Caught Up In You
by Mikauzoran
Summary: Kaito assumes he's in for a boring, stressful night, but then he runs into Shinichi at the Tokyo PD's New Year's party where it's customary for couples to kiss at the stroke of midnight. Kaito tries his hand at wooing the detective, but Shinichi resists Kaito's charm. Will Kaito be able to win Shinichi's heart and maybe steal a kiss?
1. Swept Away

Mikau: Hi everyone! Thank you so much for joining me for Caught Up In You! This one's got a similar feel to Chained at the Ankle to it. Mostly because the characters are in the same stage of their lives (nineteen, in college, living in the dorms, etcetera). Fair warning: Kaito in this fic is a little zany…like he downed a sack of sugar before this. I hope you enjoy his kookiness and Shinichi's exasperation and fast-growing fondness. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd know for sure who the heck Subaru-san really is already. As of yet, I'm still not quite caught up on the anime, am further behind on the manga, and am just enjoying the fan theories.

…

Swept Away

"Why am I here again?" Kaito sighed, futzing with his bowtie. He much preferred his Kid uniform to this nondescript black suit he was wearing to the Tokyo PD's New Year's party.

"Making Aoko-kun happy," Hakuba helpfully reminded, handing Kaito a Shirley Temple.

"Thanks," the magician mumbled. "Do _you_ know why she was so insistent that I come to this shindig? I get why you're here, and I get why she's here, but why is _my_ presence necessary?"

"It is traditional for couples to kiss at the stroke of midnight," Hakuba groaned, taking a sullen sip of his own drink.

Kaito's eyes went as wide as the circumference of his glass, and he nearly dropped it. "Crap. She gonna try and kiss me!"

The detective rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Yes, most probably." His tone carried an undercurrent of "Let's not rub it in, shall we?"

Kaito about-faced, headed for the exit. "Tell her I suddenly got the flu or pneumonia or diabetes or something and had to go home."

Saguru grabbed Kaito's shoulder firmly and pulled the magician back. "May I take this opportunity to inform you of how much I utterly despise you treating her as if she were stupid?"

"Duly noted," Kaito sighed.

"She would never believe any of that, and you, Kuroba, are staying right here and facing her like a man," Hakuba snorted as Kaito shrank like a puppy that had been scolded, ears flattening and tail curling up between his legs.

"But—" Kaito started but froze, forgetting whatever it was he had been about to say as an entrancingly familiar cowlick caught his eye. "…Tantei-kun…"

Saguru blinked, raising an eyebrow at the sudden stupid expression on his friend's face. "Sorry?"

It wasn't often that Kuroba's mental faculties shut down. Perhaps he had seen a fish? But the onset of this stupid spell did not coincide with the usual high-pitched shrieks and attempts to scale furniture, nearby trees, telephone poles, or even sometimes other human beings that occurred whenever Kuroba was faced with his phobia.

"That's Kudo Shinichi." Finally the magician was speaking in complete, logical sentences.

Saguru turned to look, and, sure enough, Kudo Shinichi was helping himself to some of the finger sandwiches and cheesecake bites from the buffet table. "So it is. And?"

Kaito's eyes never left the so-called "Heisei Holmes" even as he asked Hakuba, "When did Meitantei…when did Kudo-kun…get back?"

The blonde shrugged, sipping in disinterest at his ginger ale. "A little over a month ago. He's been keeping his involvement in cases on the down-low, though. It's strange, if you ask me. Before, he appeared in the paper all of the time. He fed off of the attention, just like a certain someone I know, but now…something's happened to him. He's different now. I suspect he was involved with something nasty…. I'm not quite sure I want to dig any deeper to find out what exactly, though."

"He's been back a month?" Finally Kaito did look away, frowning deeply at Saguru. "But…he hasn't been to a single Kid heist—I mean…I haven't seen him at the ones I've attended; have you?"

Hakuba shrugged. "No. Why should he? He never did before."

Kaito almost retorted that his Tantei-kun would never miss a chance to match wits with his great rival the Moonlight Magician, but he caught himself. It was true: Kudo Shinichi had never been in the habit of attending heists.

"Why?" Saguru pressed, a hint of teasing in his tone. "Have I come to bore you, Kuroba? Do you need more of a mental challenge? Or do you fancy him and just want his attention?"

Kaito's body betrayed him as his face shone scarlet. "I'm not Kid," he managed to get in a proper denial.

Saguru pursed his lips, realizing that his jesting had hit the mark and that that mark was a bit of a sore spot for his companion. "Oh. Sorry. Well…shall I introduce you? I doubt he's ever formally met Kuroba Kaito…. Or would you rather not take the risk of him knowing you as you?"

"I'm NOT Kid," Kaito hissed, shrinking up again, shoulders rising to meet his ears in embarrassment.

Saguru rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. I know. Kuroba, if I were going to have you arrested off the street, I would have done it by now. The only way you're being carted off to the slammer is if I catch you decked out in white with a stolen jewel in your hands, and you _know_ that. We've been friends for three bloody years now, so drop the act. Do you want me to introduce you to the cute boy or not?"

"No," Kaito mumbled, straightening himself up and finally looking Saguru properly in the eye. He sighed, giving his friend a weak grin. "Thanks, Hakuba. I'll do it myself. Could you maybe run interference with Aoko for me?"

Saguru returned the smile and nodded. "Don't worry. I'll distract her. I was planning on wooing her anyway, picking up the pieces of her broken heart after you turned her down tonight. I might as well get a head start."

"I know I don't have to tell you—heck, you treat her better than I do—but be good to her," Kaito commanded. "She's like my sister."

Saguru's smile broadened and he nodded in understanding. "You have my word, Kuroba. I'll treasure her…if she ever comes around to returning my feelings."

"She'd better," Kaito snorted under his breath. "So far you're the only bastard I've found that's worthy of her. I'm not giving my baby sister to some sleazewad."

"I understand that your use of 'bastard' is affectionate and that your belief that I deserve Aoko-kun is the highest honor, so I thank you most humbly for your compliment, Kuroba." Hakuba dipped at the waist into a bow. Coming up, he smirked. "Good luck with your own crush."

Kaito held up his glass, and Saguru tapped his own to it. "Cheers. I'm gonna need lots of it." He turned before he could think better of it and walked right for Kudo Shinichi, now pouring himself a glass of the police department's God-awful coffee (motor oil).

Kaito waited until the detective set down the coffee pot so that Shinichi didn't burn himself if Kaito happened to startle him with his greeting. Kaito took a deep breath. "Excuse me."

"Yes?" Shinichi turned, half expecting to find himself in the way of some other coffee junkie just looking to get their fix. He wasn't expecting there to be a red rose in his face upon turning around. He blinked several times, looking from the flower to the young man holding it out. "Can I…help you?"

Kaito smiled charismatically, teeth shining like they were straight out of a whitening clinic's commercial. "I'm Kuroba Kaito. It's a pleasure to meet you." Kaito motioned for Shinichi to take the flower.

Shinichi blinked at it again. "Yeah…Kudo Shinichi. Nice to meet you. Now, if you'll excuse me." With a slight bow he turned to leave.

"Hey. Wait!" Kaito protested, following Shinichi as the detective made a move towards the couches in the corner by the gorgeous glass door leading out of the ballroom and onto the balcony.

Shinichi frowned, confused as to what this had to do with him. "Sorry. Can I help you with something, Kuroba-san?"

"Kaito," Kaito urged. "You can just call me 'Kaito'. Great party, huh?"

Shinichi pursed his lips as his eyebrows pinched together. Just who was this weirdo? "Uh…I'm actually not much of a party person. I'm a bit of an introvert."

"You didn't used to be," Kaito chuckled softly, setting his empty glass down on a waiter's tray as he passed by. "I remember seeing you on the news and in the papers a lot when we were fifteen/sixteen. You used to be quite the extrovert, but I can understand you becoming more withdrawn."

Shinichi's frown deepened. "You a fan or something?"

"Something." Kaito shrugged. "Hakuba's the one that really follows your work. I think he's half jealous and partially in awe of you. Uh, Hakuba Saguru, the Superintendent's son, that is. He's my…I'm not quite sure. My roommate, best friend, and handler, I guess."

Shinichi nodded curtly in an "uh-huh" fashion. "What are you, a wild animal or something? Who has a handler?"

"I do," Kaito chuckled, heading over to sit on the couch that Shinichi had been making his way towards.

Surprisingly, Shinichi followed of his own accord and sat down next to Kaito (albeit a few feet away, but…).

"If you knew me, you'd know that I need a handler. I've actually got two. Nakamori Aoko, the Inspector's daughter, is my other one. They keep me in line most of the time." Kaito winked, stealing one of the cheesecake bites off of Shinichi's plate.

The detective glared rusty shivs at Kaito, but Kaito pressed his luck and popped the cheesecake bite into his mouth.

He held it between his teeth and somehow managed to smirk. "You're more than welcome to come in after it."

Shinichi glared harder. "No thank you. I lack a pair of gloves for once, and my precious cheesecake is already contaminated."

Kaito chewed and swallowed, putting on what he thought to be a cute pout. "You do know I meant you could come after it with your tongue, right?"

"Are you flirting with me?" Shinichi stared at him blandly, not sure if he should be appalled or what exactly he should be feeling at the moment.

"Yep," Kaito confirmed, glad that Shinichi didn't seem disgusted just yet.

"Where are your handlers now?" Shinichi snorted, setting down his coffee cup and moving his plate to his other hand, further away from Kaito and possible future attacks. "They're letting you run amuck."

"You haven't seen 'amuck' yet," Kaito tittered. "Hakuba's keeping Aoko away from me…and trying to court her in the process. Aoko's gonna try and kiss me when it turns midnight. Will you protect me, Shin-chan?"

Shinichi's face turned the exact deep purpley red shade of a plum. "Don't call me that! My _mom_ calls me that. And who ever gave you permission to use my first name?"

Kaito made sad puppy-dog eyes at his intended and begged sweetly, "Oh please, pretty please, won't you protect me and defend my honor and purity, Shin'chi?"

The color of Shinichi's blush darkened and spread all the way up to the tips of his ears. Kaito thought he could even see Shinichi's scalp flushing. "NO! And don't call me that either!"

"But, Shinichi!" Kaito whined, scooting over to Shinichi's side and placing his hands on Shinichi's thigh. "She's going to ravish me! You'd really let her take me and do lewd, unspeakable things to my pure, innocent body?!"

"Get off, you nut job," Shinichi grumbled, shrugging Kaito off and inching away. "You're more than capable of protecting yourself from some girl."

"No I'm not!" Kaito replied in a tearful wail, almost going into his falsetto. "Trust me, Nakamori Aoko is her father's daughter through and through. She'd break me in two over her knee and bellow me into submission until my eardrums burst. Plus, she's got mad skills with a mop. You've got to save me, Shinichi!"

"What do you want _me_ to do?" Shinichi rolled his eyes, not believing that he was going along with this. Why was he still sitting here with this lunatic anyway? Why didn't he get up and leave? Nothing was keeping him here.

"When she comes over here, grab me and try to inhale my tonsils. I think that will give her the picture." Kaito nodded sagely.

Shinichi's mouth dropped open. "NO! Geez. No. Just…no. Are you sure you're not some crazy fanboy?"

Kaito smiled innocently. "Oh, I'm not _your_ fan. I'm more of a critic of your work…when it comes to Kid-sama, at least."

Shinichi's eyes widened and then narrowed, his interest piqued. It was something about the wording. "Kid's?"

Kaito nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah. I'm a huuuge fan of Kaitou 1412. Well…technically, I'm a fan of the first one, the original, but this one nowadays is pretty cool too."

Shinichi somehow got the feeling that he shouldn't say anything to the effect of "a thief's a thief" or something like that. The way this strange guy talked about Kaitou 1412…there was reverence, fondness, and awe there, as if he were talking about something sacred.

Shinichi nodded. "Hey, Kuroba—"

"—Kaito."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "Hey, Kuro—"

"—_Kaito_," the magician corrected again.

Shinichi sighed. "Hey, _Kaito_."

"Yeah, Shin-chan?" Kaito smiled warmly.

Shinichi shook his head, giving up. He could tell that Kuroba was one of those people that you just shouldn't bother fighting on certain things. "Kaito, why are you talking to me?"

"'Cause it'd be kind of awkward if we just stared at each other and didn't say anything." Kaito smiled mischievously.

Shinichi gave a short laugh, smiling softly in return. "Yeah, okay, but why _me_? Why'd you pick me to impose yourself upon?"

"'Cause you're the most worthwhile person in this entire ballroom." Kaito's grin turned small and soft.

Shinichi found his cheeks turning a muted peachy pink at the sincerity with which Kaito replied. "Thank you," was the only thing he could think to say.

"Thank _you_ for being fascinating. I'd die of boredom—or, more likely, I'd stir up a lot of trouble—at this party if you weren't here. Thanks for obliging me."

Shinichi shrugged his left shoulder nonchalantly. "You're not too bad once you get past the pure insanity. I don't mind humoring you a bit. You remind me of the Sho—of some of my friends."

"Yay!" Kaito sang in celebration, throwing his arms around Shinichi and nuzzling the detective. "We're friends!"

"Stop! Stop that! No, we are not!" Shinichi yelped, trying to shove Kaito off. "Man, what is wrong with you?"

"I'm just so happy that you like me too, Shin-chan!" Kaito giggled, pulling back and beaming.

Shinichi's face raced through the red to blue spectrum, turning all shades of scarlet, fuchsia, and maroon along the way. "I don't! I never said that!"

"You said I wasn't too bad," Kaito reminded. "That means you like me!"

Shinichi resisted the urge to beat his head against the wall. "That's it. I need some fresh air." He pushed himself up off of the couch and headed for the balcony.

Kaito, of course, tagged along like Shinichi's shadow. "Look at the moon and the stars, Shin-chan! It's gorgeous, isn't it?"

Shinichi sighed, wishing that the crazy person hadn't followed him. "Yeah. Yeah, absolutely gorgeous."

"Shinichi, look at it," Kaito chided. "It's beautiful even here in the middle of polluted Tokyo where the lights are too bright and most of the stars are drowned out. Really look at it and see how breathtaking it is. You have to stop and enjoy the beauty in the little things…or else you'll get bogged down with all of the evil and death you deal with day in and day out. Look at it, will ya?"

Shinichi looked up and had to admit that Kaito was right. The view of the night sky was stunning. Everything felt still and peaceful. The air was cold and crisp, and there was a soft breeze blowing, licking at Shinichi's lapel and coattails. The stars were glimmering above them, and the moon was a little less than three quarters of the way full. It truly was breathtaking.

The detective turned to look at his companion to admit his defeat, but the sight of Kaito's face in profile bathed in moonlight made his heart do a funny mix of a jumping jack and a tailspin. He could feel it fluttering around his ribcage. Shinichi blinked, narrowing his gaze to stare intently at Kaito.

"What's up?" Kaito turned to face Shinichi, cocking his head to the side. "Something wrong, Shin-chan?"

"You're…very familiar for some reason. You look…we've met before, haven't we?"

"Have we?" Kaito chuckled, leaning against his forearms on the balcony and looking back out at the lovely Tokyo night sky above them. "I don't know. I think you'd have a better recollection of meeting someone as devastatingly handsome as me."

"You have a point," Shinichi hummed. "I'd remember meeting you."

"Oh, Shin-chan!" Kaito pretended to swoon. "You _do_ think I'm handsome!"

Shinichi rolled his eyes and grumbled, "No. I meant I'd remember meeting someone as ANNOYING as you."

"That's mean, Shin-chan," Kaito pouted, looking back up at the sky. "You hurt my feelings."

Shinichi was about to just blow it off, making some crack comment, but…Kaito actually did look a little hurt. "Sorry," he muttered.

It was quiet for a moment before Kaito smiled and chuckled, "It's okay. I am being pretty obnoxious, aren't I?"

"Yeah," Shinichi sighed. "Why are you pretending to be such a pain in the first place? You're not really like this…. At least not all the time, right?"

Kaito shrugged, gripping the balcony rail and leaning back. "Nah. I can be an atrocious brat sometimes, but…I'd like to think that for the most part I'm pretty likeable." He hesitantly turned to smile at Shinichi. "Really, I just wanted you to pay attention to me."

"Why?" Shinichi raised an eyebrow in suspicion at Kaito.

Kaito shrugged again, a goofy grin on his lips. "Who knows? You're interesting. I've been curious about you for a while…. I've really just wanted an opportunity to talk to you like this." No police, no running, no Organization, just two bored teens too smart for their own good. "To get to know you better."

"How can you know me 'better' if this is the first time we've meet?" Shinichi inquired neutrally, but his suspicion was piqued. "The way you phrased it, it makes it sounds like we already knew each other."

Kaito waved Shinichi's inquiries away, mentally kicking himself for letting his guard down like a dunce around the pretty boy. "Like I said before, I've known about you because of Hakuba's interest in you and your involvement with Kid-sama. I guess what I should have said was that I wanted to get to know you personally."

"No." Shinichi frowned, taking a step closer. "I haven't been in the papers for the past two years. There hasn't been anything for Hakuba to be interested in for a long time now…. And Kudo Shinichi has never had any public involvement with the Kaitou Kid. That was Edogawa Conan."

Kaito blinked, rapidly scanning his memory. Well look at that. Shit. You blew your cover in less than fifteen minutes just because you were too busy staring into those gorgeous cerulean eyes and drooling to pay attention to what you were letting come out of your mouth.

"It makes sense, though. I can understand why you would make that mistake." Shinichi reached out and wrapped his hand around Kaito's wrist. "After all…you were always able to see past those enormous glasses. To you, I was always me, no matter what size I was. Isn't that right, Kid?"

Kaito didn't know what to do. He should probably be fleeing right now, but that would only cement his guilt. Maybe he could still try to talk his way out of this?

He frowned in confusion, tipping his head to the side and blinking innocently. "What? Shinichi, what are you talking about?"

Shinichi's grip tightened, and he reached out and took Kaito's other wrist too. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Kid. Why are you here?"

"Shinichi, you're hurting me," Kaito whined, pulling back, but not trying to get away. "Look, I'm sorry if I got something wrong, but all I know about you I learned from Hakuba's old stash of newspaper articles and what he tells me. When he comes home from heists, he always talks about how _you_, Kudo Shinichi, were there. He told me about how you've been coming these past few years, even though you weren't appearing in the papers anymore. He talks about how you always get in his way and trip him up and how one time you even sleep-darted him by mistake when you were aiming for Kid-sama. And then there was the one time that you hit him with your fast-inflating soccer ball and the time when you were all at that Karasuma or whatever mansion thing and Kid got away and how you guys met during that Lavender Mansion case…even though that didn't have anything to do with Kid-sama, but, seriously, I'm not Kid-sama. I only thought you were involved in catching him because Hakuba _told_ me you were, so will you let me go already?" Kaito pleaded, hoping to the gods that Shinichi would buy it.

Shinichi's gaze narrowed at the thought that maybe it was Hakuba that knew his secret. Somewhere down in his gut he felt that, no. This was Kid. It had to be. It all made sense. Shinichi knew that face illuminated and, at the same time, obscured by moonlight. Shinichi knew this particular brand of annoyance and frustration that Kaito was dredging up in him; it was the same feeling he got when dealing with a certain phantom thief. It all fit. That face, the slip-up…

Shinichi smiled sheepishly and slowly released his grip. "Sorry, Kaito. You remind me a lot of the guy, and when you said…Never mind. It's not important. I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

Kaito nodded, gently rubbing his wrists. "It's okay. Hakuba accused me of being Kid-sama at first too. Sometimes I think he still believes that I am, even though he's handcuffed himself to me during heists before. I'm kind of used to the accusations. Let's just start over, okay? I'm Kuroba Kaito. It's nice to meet you." Kaito pulled out his charismatic smile one more time and made a rose appear. He tentatively held it out to Shinichi.

The detective smiled, finally taking the flower and tucking it into his breast pocket. "Kudo Shinichi. The pleasure's all mine. So…tell me a little bit about yourself?"

Kaito smiled, leaning forward to rest his forearms on the balcony railing again. "There's not much to tell. I'm studying theatre and engineering right now with a minor in psychology. I'm a student at Beika University, and I live in the dorms with my obnoxiously British best friend/handler Hakuba Saguru. I'm going to be the best magician of all time. I'm going to surpass them all…Houdini, Kid, even my father, Kuroba Touichi. Right now I'm just an amateur, but…I've got potential."

Shinichi nodded. "I've heard about your father. My mom's an actress—Kudo Yukiko—and she studied the art of disguise under Kuroba-san. Isn't that crazy? It really is a small world. What about your mom? What does she do?"

Kaito grinned sheepishly. "I think she's a corporate spy or something. She works for a big company, and they're always sending her to different countries. She's been doing that for as long as I can remember…after Dad was murdered, at least. Before that…we were a family. We traveled together. I…" Kaito readjusted his poker face smile. "It was a little lonely growing up, but I had people that cared about me. I was fine. I _am_ fine."

Shinichi came in closer and leaned on the railing beside Kaito. "I know what that's like…growing up without much parental supervision, fending for yourself, being alone a lot. My dad's a writer, and my mom's an actress. They're always flitting around the globe, living an exotic life on a perpetual honeymoon. I've been living more or less alone since middle school. It can be rough at times, can't it?"

"Yeah," Kaito chuckled softly, a twinge of remorse in his voice. "You seem to have turned out fine, though."

"Pft." Shinichi stifled a full-out laugh. "I can't tell you how much trouble I've gotten myself into. I'm very independent, but…there were a lot of times I just wished that my parents were around to help me out, to ask advice of…just to tell me that everything was going to be okay. I'm sure you know what that's like." Shinichi grimaced, reaching out and placing his hand on top of Kaito's. "But here I am complaining when I can just pick up a phone and call them pretty much whenever. It must have been so hard for you, Kaito."

Kaito nodded, trying his hardest to hold back tears, to hold his poker face together. "You have no idea."

"You turned out just fine, though," Shinichi comforted. "I think your father would be proud of you."

"I wonder about that," Kaito whispered, trying to shut the pain out, trying to focus on the warmth of Shinichi's hand on top of his own.

"No. I _know_ he'd be proud, Kaito," Shinichi assured. "You're a good man. You're noble and passionate. You've got a weird sense of humor sometimes, but you're very witty and exceptionally entertaining. You're gentle and considerate, and you've got a strong sense of justice…funny enough as that is to say, but…I can tell. I know you have a reason for doing what you do. I may not always agree with your methods, but…you're a good man, Kaito."

Kaito blinked, suddenly confused. Shinichi didn't know Kuroba Kaito well enough to make that judgment. Those words of encouragement would be better suited directed at Kid, but…he thought they'd cleared up that little misunderstanding earlier. Did that mean…did Shinichi think that Kid was a good man? We're they okay? Was Shinichi not going to turn Kaito in? Did he know Kaito's secret but just not care?

"What do you mean?" Kaito chuckled defensively. "You've only known me twenty minutes. How do you know what I'm like?"

Shinichi shrugged, stepping back a little now that Kaito seemed to be feeling better. "I just feel like we've known each other a lot longer, that's all. I'm a good judge of character, though. Detectives can tell these things, but…if you'd rather I get to know you better before I give you my opinion, we could always spend some time together, and then I'll let you know if I still think you're a good person."

Kaito blinked stupidly. Had Shinichi just…? "Shin-chan, are you asking me out on a date?" Kaito squealed in an annoying, fangirl-esq tone.

Shinichi's face turned magenta and he began to sputter. "N-No! You idiot. Just coffee!"

"That sounds like a date," Kaito goaded.

"Well, it's not," Shinichi grumbled. "I just want to see you again and talk and stuff, so…"

"I want to see you again too." Kaito smiled and replied in all seriousness.

It kind of took Shinichi's breath away. Only just a little, though.

In the distance, the clock tower began to toll midnight.

Kaito beamed, leaning in and pecking Shinichi on the cheek.

Shinichi's face burned as his heart palpitated and his stomach lurched. "What the hell was that for?" he choked as his hand flew to his face.

Kaito grinned. "You're supposed to kiss someone at midnight on New Year's, right? Happy New Year, Shinichi!"

"You're supposed to kiss the person you love! Not just anyone!" Shinichi growled in exasperation, hand still covering the spot where Kaito's lips had touched.

"But I do love you," Kaito pouted, making sad puppy eyes at Shinichi. "And I thought you loved me too, Shin-chan. You asked me to go out with you, after all."

Shinichi face palmed, finally letting his other hand fall away from the spot Kaito had kissed. "I cannot believe that this is the first conversation of the year I'm having. God. 2014 is going to suck."

"How can you say that!" Kaito gasped, hanging off of Shinichi's arm. "Your year started off with a kiss from me! This is going to be the best year of your entire life!"

Shinichi sighed, surrendering to the insanity. He knew from his past experiences with Kid that you just couldn't fight the crazy, so it was better to just go with the flow. "You win, Kaito. When do you want to go on our first not-date?"

"Tomorrow morning!" Kaito announced, squeezing Shinichi's arm to his chest and beaming brightly, shaming the stars overhead with the sheer amount of light he was emitting. "I'll come over to your house and pick you up at eight-thirty! Switch phone numbers with me!"

Reluctantly, Shinichi pulled out his phone, set it to transfer data and then touched his phone's sensor to the sensor on Kaito's.

"Just don't send me any weird messages," Shinichi sighed.

Kaito smirked like a shark. "Why of course I'll be sure to text you hourly, Shin-chan!"

Shinichi debated banging his head against the stone balcony railing. "No."

Kaito began to stick out his bottom lip and widen his eyes in "sad puppy-dog". "But, Shin-chan, I'm insecure. How else am I supposed to be certain of the strength of our love if we're not in constant contact?"

Shinichi's eyebrow began to twitch. Just what the hell was he doing out on this balcony with this weirdo that was more likely than not the Kaitou Kid? He could leave at any time, really. Why was he just standing here and taking this nonsense? He should be walking away. Undoubtedly, Kaito would just follow him, but…

"No," he repeated. "Just…no. There is no strength of our love. There is no love. There is no 'us'. You're insane."

"B-But…" Kaito stepped in closer, invading Shinichi's personal space to the max as he wrapped his arms around Shinichi's neck and plastered his body to the detective's, hanging off of Shinichi. "But we kissed and then you confessed your undying love for me and proposed!"

Shinichi attempted to extract himself from the magician's embrace, struggling to push away. "That never happened!"

"And just what are you going to do if I get pregnant?" Kaito demanded, looking outraged. "I hope you'll step up and take responsibility."

Shinichi blinked. "You're being ridiculous. Stop pretending to be annoying. I'm already paying attention to you. You have my full and undivided attention, Kaito, so cut the theatrics, will you?"

"You're no fun," Kaito chuckled, slowly untangling his arms from around Shinichi's person. "But you'll meet me for coffee tomorrow at eight-thirty?"

Shinichi rolled his eyes and begrudgingly smiled. "Yes. Eight-thirty. Coffee. I know a great café only a block from my house. Okay? Are we okay now?"

Kaito nodded. "Un! Do they serve chocolate brownies there?"

Shinichi blinked. "Uh…Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

"And hot cocoa?" Kaito looked at him expectantly, holding his breath and crossing his fingers.

Shinichi's brow furrowed as he tried to remember. "Yes. That one I know for sure they have. Ayumi got some last time we went."

Kaito's body would have started emitting flames of jealousy had he not known that Ayumi was around eight or nine years old. "'Ayumi'? Is that your girlfriend's name, Shin-chan?" Kaito faked ignorance.

Shinichi blushed even as he cringed. "Ayumi's not my girlfriend," he quickly assured.

"Look at you blushing!" Kaito teased, striving to push Shinichi to the edge in order to get the reaction and thus the information that he really wanted. "She _is_ your girlfriend! You're just embarrassed. I bet you two are all lovey-dovey in private! Shin-chan's got a girlfriend. Shin-chan's got a girlfriend," Kaito sang like a six year-old.

"I do not!" Shinichi finally snapped. "And even if I did, it wouldn't be Ayumi. Ayumi's just a little kid that I'm sort of friends with. Geez."

Bingo and Hallelujah!

Kaito blinked innocently. "You really don't have a girlfriend, Shinichi? I would have thought for sure that you would. I mean…you're super popular. You've got your own fanclub for crying out loud."

Shinichi shook his head, looking sadly out at the Tokyo skyline. "There was a girl I liked, but…I'm no good for her. She's just too amazing a person, so…even though I did like her…I gave her up for her own good. She's better off with someone that can treat her right and give her everything she deserves. Now…I still love her to pieces, but…she's just…more like my sister than anything."

Kaito nodded knowingly, placing a supportive hand on Shinichi's forearm. "Yeah. I know what you mean. The same thing happened to me and Aoko. It hurts to let them go, but…you're so noble, Shinichi."

"Tch. Hardly," the detective laughed bitterly, turning to smile at Kaito. "And you're not noble?"

Kaito shook his head. "I'm selfish and ugly. I pray to God you don't see as we get to know each other better, but I don't have a noble bone in my body."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "You sure? I think you might be wrong on that one. After all, you've got two hundred and six chances. At least one of them has to be noble, and I'm betting it's the one right here." Shinichi poked the rib directly over Kaito's heart.

Kaito closed his eyes and smiled sadly. "You give me too much credit."

"I think in the past that I haven't given you enough credit," Shinichi mused. Kid was quite a bit different than Shinichi had expected. He had never looked too hard at the phantom thief in the past once the heist was over and done with, and Shinichi never would have considered Kid a lonely child, most probably inheriting a cherished father's legacy.

"What do you mean?" Kaito's eyes slowly slid open to gaze at Shinichi in puzzlement.

"Nothing." Shinichi shook his head with a smile. "So…you and Aoko-san didn't work out, but…do you like anyone now, Kaito?" Shinichi attempted to steer the conversation back to a cheerier topic.

Kaito smirked, wrapping his arms around Shinichi's neck once more. "Just you of course, Shin-chan!"

Shinichi found himself rolling his eyes again as his cheeks fluctuated between cherry red and cotton candy pink. "Seriously, you little buffoon."

"I _was_ being serious," Kaito whined, surprised that Shinichi wasn't trying to evade Kaito's touch. "I've only got eyes for you. What about you, Shin-chan? Do you like anyone right now?"

Shinichi sighed, resting one hand on Kaito's hip for lack of anywhere else to put it—it wasn't like he could cross his arms with Kaito right there, in his space—while he raised the other hand and poked Kaito in the nose repeatedly. "If I say yes, are you going to track them down and terrorize them, you crazy stalker fanboy?"

Kaito smiled angelically. "Now why would I do that?"

"I just get the feeling that you'd eliminate all obstacles between us in the way of our love…or something like that," Shinichi replied airily.

"That depends." Kaito's smile was getting more toothy, sharper by the second. "Are there any obstacles between us, getting in the way of our love?"

Shinichi shook his head, his finger coming to a rest on the tip of Kaito's nose. "No, Kaito. I don't like anyone right now."

"Good." Kaito tilted his head so that his lips touched Shinichi's finger in a butterfly kiss. "Then there's room in your heart for me."

"Right." Shinichi shook his head in disbelief. Was this seriously happening? How could such an off-the-wall individual exist, and why was Shinichi seriously considering befriending him? What drew Shinichi to this Kuroba Kaito? "…What were we talking about before things got silly?"

"Our date tomorrow," Kaito supplied helpfully, rocking back and forth on his heels.

Shinichi's hand dropped to Kaito's other hip. "Right. The not-date. Like I was saying, yeah. I'm sure they have hot chocolate. Why do you ask?"

"I don't actually like coffee." Kaito smirked.

Shinichi's expression slowly sank like so many melted clocks. "Kaito, if you don't like coffee, we can always just—"

"—No," Kaito cut in, smiling contentedly. "I want to go to the café with you. We can do whatever you were going to suggest instead next time, but this time I want to have a coffee date. Eight-thirty tomorrow. Promise?"

Shinichi frowned, biting his lower lip. "Yeah, I guess. Whatever you want, Kaito, but—"

"—Kaito?" A third party broke into their private world of stars and moonlight.

"Aoko-kun, you shouldn't—" followed along after her as Hakuba came to a stop just in the doorway leading out to the balcony. "Oh. Sorry for the intrusion. We're interrupting it seems." Hakuba bowed awkwardly, taking Aoko by the shoulders and attempting to lead her away.

She stood fixed to the spot, staring in disbelief at the man she loved in the arms of another man. "Kaito?" she called again, almost pleading. She looked darling in her little blue cocktail dress, hair all done up, almost like that porcelain doll in the shop window that no one had ever gotten for her when she was seven.

"Hey guys," Kaito chuckled sheepishly, reluctantly letting his arms drop from around Shinichi's neck and turning to greet his friends. "What's up?"

Shinichi shifted uncomfortably, quickly taking his hands and shoving them in his pockets, hoping no one had seen him with his hands on Kaito's hips but knowing that they had. He did his best to play it cool, hoping they wouldn't make anything of it.

Hakuba was the one that spoke up first. "Uh…well…Aoko-kun and I have been looking for you all evening, Kuroba. Admittedly, Aoko-kun wanted to check here first, but I stupidly deduced that this would be the last place we'd find you. But low and behold, this is the last place we checked, and here you are. With Kudo-kun no less." Hakuba turned and bowed sheepishly to Shinichi. "I do hope he hasn't been bothering you, Kudo-kun. He's a very strange one—no sense of shame or others' personal space, I'm afraid—so I'm very sorry if he's been any inconvenience. I only took my eyes off of him for a second, and…"

Shinichi bowed back slightly. "No worries. Kaito's been no trouble at all. I've enjoyed his company," Shinichi begrudgingly admitted, but then he thought better of his word choice. What with the compromising position he and Kaito had been caught in, they might misinterpret Shinichi's "enjoyment" of Kaito's company. He quickly sought to correct this. "I mean, we were just hanging out and talking, right, Kaito?" He looked nervously to Kaito for corroboration.

The magician smiled broadly and nodded, taking Shinichi by the elbow and leading him over to the other two. "Yep! Hakuba, you already know Shin-chan, but Aoko, I want to introduce you two. Nakamori Aoko, this is my new friend, Kudo Shinichi. Aoko, Shinichi. Shinichi, Aoko."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nakamori-san." Shinichi smiled, bowing to the beautiful young lady that reminded him slightly of Ran.

Aoko bowed back, swallowing a few times before finding her voice. "I-It's nice meeting you too, Kudo-kun. S-Sorry. Please excuse me." She bowed again and suddenly bolted, taking off at a run in those unstable high heels.

Kaito sighed, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "She's going to break an ankle running in those things. Hakuba, you wanna take this one, or do you think I should go after her?"

"If you're seriously asking for my opinion, I believe you should be the one to go after her." Hakuba shrugged in defeat, sighing heavily. "I've been doing my best all evening, but she couldn't care less about my presence or a thing I have to say…. However, if you'd like to spend some more time with Kudo-kun, I'd gladly go after her myself. I know how you've always been interested in meeting him."

"I'll go," Kaito volunteered. "I've been meaning to have a chat with her for a while now, and now's as good a time as any. Besides, Shin-chan and I are meeting for a coffee date tomorrow morning, so we'll have plenty of time then to pick up where we left off and continue 'just hanging out and talking'. We'll see what happens with Aoko, but would you be able to take her home for me if I don't get her there?"

"You need to ask?" Hakuba snorted.

"Right," Kaito chuckled, poking his friend's cheek. "Thanks, Haku-chan."

"Of course. Just text me and let me know." Saguru rolled his eyes with a fond smile for his obnoxious roommate.

Kaito turned to Shinichi and paused awkwardly, smiling sheepishly. "So…I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," Shinichi assured, himself shifting unnaturally. He felt like he should do something…like a manly bro-hug or a kiss on the cheek or something was in order. "Good night, Kaito." For some reason he found himself not wanting Kaito to go.

"Good night, Shin-chan," Kaito chuckled, lingering. He was reluctant to leave, knowing it would be a good few hours before he saw the detective again.

Hakuba cleared his throat, attempting not to look at the awkward teenagers making eyes at each other.

That brought Kaito out of his haze, reminding him that he had a job to do. He smiled at Shinichi again and waved, slowly backing away. He turned to Hakuba. "Thanks again for your help tonight with…everything. I'll see you back home."

"Yes, yes. Get going already." Saguru rolled his eyes, unable to feel any real annoyance at his best friend. Years of exposure to Kaito had raised his patience and tolerance level considerably.

"Right." Kaito turned again and quickly leaned in to press a ghost of a kiss to Shinichi's cheek before darting off after Aoko on feather-light feet.

Shinichi blinked stupidly, watching Kaito's retreating back. He cupped his hand to his quickly reddening cheek.

Saguru simply rolled his eyes once more for good measure. At least things seemed to be working out for the magician. Kaito was kind of like that, though…irresistible. Saguru had never had any real doubt that Kaito would win Kudo over. He hadn't imagined the other detective would become smitten so quickly, but it wasn't unheard of. Falling for Kaito was sudden. It was like a flash flood, coming out of nowhere and carrying you away, dragging you down, whirling your body round and round at its whim until you were dizzy and disoriented, wondering where the hell all that had come from…. Or so he'd heard and pieced together from many a fangirl victim of Kaito's. Saguru himself had no personal knowledge of the Kaito phenomenon. Well…true, he himself had suddenly woken up one day worrying about an international criminal and going so far as to protect him at the expense of his own sense of morals, but…

Hakuba looked at the star-struck Shinichi and laughed softly. The poor fool didn't even know what had hit him yet.

The sound of Hakuba's snicker brought Shinichi back to the present, making the poor detective almost jump out of his skin. "That wasn't—! I—! He wasn't seriously—! It's not a date!" Shinichi rushed to defend himself.

Saguru smiled with just a touch of smug in his expression. "Of course not. Kuroba's like that."

Shinichi cleared his throat and straightened his suit jacket and tie. "Right. Yeah. I just…" He bit his lip and snuck a sideways glance at his fellow detective. "So…that was the Kaitou Kid, right?"

Saguru had been around Kaito long enough to have picked up a bit of a poker face of his own. He raised an eyebrow at Shinichi as if he thought the other young man were a bit touched in the head. "That was Kuroba Kaito, Kid's biggest fan. I made that mistake too in the beginning, but I can assure you that Kuroba's name has been cleared numerous times. I've even gone so far as to handcuff him to me during heists, but Kid still comes all the same, and Kuroba never leaves my side."

Shinichi pursed his lips. "Right. I wonder about that."

"Don't," Saguru advised, a bit of a bite to his voice, like a dog growling in warning: "Come no closer…least you desire to face my teeth."

Shinichi nodded, knowing when to back off.

"…And what if Kuroba were Kid?" Saguru inquired, hoping his voice carried a tone of indifference and nonchalance. "What then?"

Shinichi began to squirm. "…Kaito's not…he's not a bad person…and neither is Kid, even though Kid does illegal stuff, so…as long as he's not in the process of doing anything illegal…we can be friends…. Isn't that how your own reasoning works, Hakuba-kun? You have a keen sense of justice too. Is that how you reconcile things?"

Saguru shrugged, arms out at his sides and palms up. "Who knows? IF Kuroba were Kid, I imagine I would follow a very similar course of reasoning…but Kuroba is not Kid."

"Right," Shinichi readily agreed. "Of course…." Shinichi began to squirm like the gradeschooler he had once been not too long ago as silence fell over the duo.

Hakuba reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket watch to check the time and then his phone to make sure there were no messages from Kaito needing assistance.

"So…" Shinichi bit his lip. "You're Kaito's best friend, right?"

"Best male friend, yes." Hakuba gave him a quizzical glance.

"So…you would know if he liked anyone right now." Shinichi blushed, not believing that he was even asking about this. He didn't even know why he was so curious, but for some reason he just had to know.

"Theoretically." Hakuba's lips began to turn up in a smirk.

Shinichi shuffled his feet, mumbling in embarrassment, "I asked him earlier, but you know Kaito. He wasn't being serious. He said he liked me when I asked him if there was anyone he liked now. Uh…do you know…? I mean…does he like anyone right now?"

Hakuba smiled as pleasantly as a pit viper. "You're asking me if you have any competition," the blonde surmised.

"No!" Shinichi vehemently denied it, but his heart was fluttering around again. He'd have to see a doctor; he was too young to be developing a heart condition, but with all of the strain it'd gone through as Conan… "I mean…it's not like I'm asking because…I mean, I'm not gay or anything. I just…I just…I'm curious is all. So…does Kaito like anyone right now?" He could tell his cheeks were clown nose red; he could feel them burn.

Hakuba continued to smirk. "I'll tell you this: you have no competition at the moment; however, that does not mean that there is nothing standing between you and Kuroba. Kuroba Kaito is my best friend, and if you should hurt him, I would be _most_ unhappy. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that you are not the only one who is rich and influential. Tread cautiously, Kudo-kun."

Shinichi nodded, chewing absentmindedly on the insides of his cheeks.

At that moment, Hakuba's phone dinged, signaling that he had a text. Hakuba looked down at his mobile and frowned deeply. "Right. Off I go, then." He cast Shinichi one more look. "Do be good to him. I have to say that I'm most impressed by your work and I believe we'd make good friends, if given the opportunity to get to know one another a little better, so…I'd really hate to have to kill you and make it look like the work of some…I don't know…underground crime syndicate or something. Happy New Year, Kudo-kun. Good night."

Shinichi bowed his head slightly as Hakuba turned to leave. "Thanks, Hakuba-kun. The same to you."

Hakuba raised a hand and waved as he walked away, leaving Shinichi alone on the balcony with the stars and the moon and his thoughts.

It was funny. Earlier Shinichi had been comfortable out in the winter air, but now, without Kaito, it was cold. Had the magician really radiated so much heat, or had Shinichi really been that distracted by Kaito that he hadn't noticed that it was freezing out here?

Shinichi sighed. He was all out of sorts, disoriented. It was like he'd had the earth pulled out from under him and now he was spinning every which way out in space. What had happened? One minute he'd been getting coffee thinking about how the party sucked and he felt awkward and he'd really rather be at home curled up on his couch with a tangerine, a cup of coffee, and a good book with the Red White Song Battle going in the background. He'd been mentally cursing the way Megure-keibu had looked at him with big expectant eyes and asked if he were coming a sixth time after Shinichi had made fuzzy excuses and vaguely hinted that he wouldn't the five times before that. He'd been getting a cup of coffee, praying that the night would go by quickly when suddenly…Kaito.

That stupid thief had always been so illusive and enigmatic before. A rare, worthy opponent, a challenging puzzle, both a physical and mental workout. And now…now there was Kaito so full of mysteries himself, and yet, at the same time, open and honest and vulnerable for those few minutes where he'd let Shinichi in, taken off the mask and just been a lonely boy who missed his idolized father and wanted his mother's reassuring presence in his life. That glimpse at a young man who was determined to overcome his hardships and fulfill his dreams was like a powerful narcotic to the detective, and Shinichi didn't know why.

Kuroba Kaito had been freaking annoying most of the evening. Why was Shinichi so drawn to him? Why did Shinichi want to text him and make sure his talk with Nakamori Aoko had gone okay? Why did he suddenly care so much about what Kaito was feeling, what kind of face he was making? Was Kaito okay? Was he sad? Had he made it home okay? Was he crying? Did he still love that Aoko girl? Why did it matter so damn much? Even though Shinichi had known Kid for years now, the existence known as Kaito was brand new to Shinichi. Kid's personal life had never really concerned him. Why was it so important now?

And why was Shinichi so anxious for morning to come so that he could see Kaito again?

Shinichi took a deep breath and let it out slowly, placing his palms on both cheeks where Kaito's lips had brushed his skin. They burned as if Kaito's lips had been a hot branding iron, leaving an indelible mark behind.

Next his hands moved to rest above his heart which was skipping in his chest, beating madly, so loud he could hear it pumping.

He looked down at his hands and scowled at his heart. "Stop that," he commanded, but his heart seemed to have a mind of its own. With every beat it sang, "Kai-to. Kai-to. Kai-to." making him blush dark crimson.

"Seriously," he hissed. "That clown's just messing with you. He's not serious. I know you've been lonely lately what with Ran out of the picture, but you shouldn't get so desperate that you'll fall for the first person to show an interest in you. Now stop it."

But his heart didn't stop. It continued to sing happily in his chest for the rest of the night at the slightest thought of Kaito. And _everything_ reminded him of Kaito.

He even went so far as to try socializing to try to distract himself, but as he talked to Takagi-keiji and Satou-keiji, in the back of his mind there was the question: "Do Kaito and I look good together? Would we make as cute a couple as them? Is it weird because we're both guys?"

Megure-keibu walked him around and introduced him to some of the higher ups that he didn't already know, but Shinichi was busy thinking about what Kaito's favorite food might be. He seemed to like sweet stuff what with the stealing of Shinichi's cheesecake bite and him mentioning brownies and hot chocolate when they were talking about the café. Maybe Shinichi would have to expand his cooking repertoire a little?

And then at one o'clock, Chiba-keiji was trying to tell him and a few others a story about a lost cat and a burglary that he'd stumbled upon during another case. Somehow the two were connected, but Shinichi wasn't too sure. He'd been having trouble concentrating because he was busy thinking about how in seven hours and thirty minutes he'd be seeing Kaito again, and they'd be going on their…on their not-date.

God, what was wrong with him?

Shinichi didn't stay too much longer after that. After all, he had to go home and agonize about what he was going to wear and what he was going to say before he could drift off to sleep.

One of the officers drove him home, noting that he seemed "out of it". It might have been Satou-keiji. Or had it been Shiratori? Hm. All Shinichi knew was that at the time he had been contemplating Kaito's hair and if he styled it like that on purpose or if he just woke up fabulous with that tussled look that one would think had taken at least twenty minutes to perfect. Did Kaito get hat hair?

Once he was home and in bed, ready to conk out for the night, he was slightly annoyed to find that he wouldn't be getting a decent night's sleep for his not-date with Kaito the following morning because thoughts of Kaito wouldn't shut off in his mind, allowing it to rest.

He began to wonder if Kaito were still awake. What was Kaito's room like? Oh. It was a dorm, wasn't it? That he shared with Hakuba. Hakuba knew what Kaito's sleeping face looked like. Hakuba had probably watched Kaito wake up and had been the first thing that Kaito had seen in the morning. Hmmmmm.

Maybe he should invite Kaito over for a sleepover? Friends did that, right? He'd had sleepovers with the Shounen Tanteidan before. Grownups didn't really have sleepovers, though, did they? What did Kaito wear to sleep? Did he sleep on his back or stomach or side or maybe curled up in a cute little ball? Did Kaito snore?

Sometime around the part where Shinichi was wondering if Kaito had a security blanket or some kind of stuffed animal he slept with, Shinichi managed to fall asleep, but even his dreams were Kaito-infested.

Kid invited him to a Wonderland-style tea party where both Kaito and Kid pestered and teased and flirted and did everything in their power to rile him up.

Shinichi woke up at seven forty-eight, thinking, _"What. The hell."_ Everything since the moment the previous night when Kaito had entered his life had been kind of like that. What the hell? It was like getting hit in the face by an airbag. What the hell? What had happened?

Though, now that he'd had some halfway decent sleep, he was thinking more clearly (or so he thought, at least). He realized this reaction he was having to Kuroba Kaito. It was the same response he had to an intriguing case. He got so focused on the case that it was the only thing he thought about. He forgot to eat and sleep because he was so wrapped up in the case. It absorbed him, digging its nails into him and not letting go until he had taken it apart, dissected it, and analyzed it under a lens. Only did it let up once he knew it intimately, understanding all of its sides and curves and angles.

Kuroba Kaito was the same way. He was Shinichi's newest obsession. Shinichi was like a hound on the scent. Kaito was a riddle to unravel, a puzzle to piece together. It was obsession, not love, as he had first feared. He wasn't smitten. He wasn't infatuated. This wasn't attraction he felt. He wasn't taken by Kaito. This wasn't love.

Or so he thought as he tore through his closet in a panic, finding that he had nothing to wear on his not-date. He wanted to look good, gosh darn it!

But it wasn't love.

Or so he told himself as he washed his hair a second time, just so that the cinnamon fragrance would be stronger. Surely Kaito liked cinnamon. It probably reminded him of a cinnamon bun or something. Maybe Shinichi should switch to more of a sugary scent? They were selling things like gingerbread and Santa's cookies and sugar plum scents after the holidays, weren't they? Maybe Kaito would like that.

But he wasn't thinking about changing fragrances to Kaito's preference because he hoped to lure Kaito in and entice him to come closer and take a sniff or anything. Because Shinichi wasn't in love.

Or so he insisted as he paced in and out of the living room, through the foyer, into the library, and back again as the clock advanced so slowly. He pleaded with the timepiece to move a little faster. He wanted to see Kaito, and the wait was just killing him.

But it wasn't because he was in love or anything.

Or so he tried to convince himself, but…the door opened, and there was Kaito.

Shinichi's heart did a backflip, and the bottom dropped out of his stomach. His stupid heart began crooning cheesy old love songs, speeding up the tempo in time with its incessant beating. Shinichi's legs felt weak, and he could feel a stupid happy grin spreading across his face. His eyes tried to burn Kaito's image into his retinas as Shinichi consciously had to remind himself to breathe.

"Hey there! Morning, Shin-chan!" Kaito chuckled, grinning joyously.

"Hey," Shinichi returned, savoring Kaito's presence.

But…it wasn't love…was it?

…

Mikau: So there you have it. I can't help feeling like this could use another chapter. What do you think? First of all, did you like it? Was it humorous or just lame? ^.^; What was your favorite part? Anything you didn't like? And now, would you be interested in seeing Kaito's conversation with Aoko, Hakuba and Kaito talking after they both get home that night, and then the not-date between Kaito and Shinichi? I think I could whip up one more chapter, but after that, that's it. ^.^; What do you think? Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, guys! Thanks for your support, and thanks in advance for your reviews! I always appreciate you taking the time to share with me what you thought! Take care!


	2. Riptides

Mikau: Hi guys! Thanks so much for all of your support while I've been sick and with my dog passing away and everything. I'm feeling a little better, and, surprisingly, I've been able to get a lot of writing done. So, I believe I said I would do one more chapter for this fic, right? Well, we all know what a liar I am when it comes to one-shots morphing into multi-chapter fics, and this fic is no exception. Here's chapter two for now. Chapter three should be out in about a week. I'm going on vacation, so it'll probably be after I get back next Saturday, and then there will be a little omake chapter after that. I hope you're happy. ^.^; I was trying to fit everything into one chapter, but it was just _way too long_, so I broke it down. This chapter contains Aoko and Kaito's talk, Aoko and Hakuba in the middle, and Kaito and Hakuba verbally working things out at the end. Chapter three will be KaiShin adorableness overload with their first not-date. Wait in great anticipation for the cuteness. And before I forget, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last time: maddy, ThatGirlWhoLooksLikePopura, MeitanteiRose, Assasin8, Bunnyz-chan, LittleFan, mochiusagi, Kirazu Haruka, and 9angel! Getting such overwhelming support was really heartwarming and encouraging, so thank you!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd be more in the know about recent developments. A Magic Kaito anime?! For reals?! I hope they do the robo Kaito episode and the one with the little eyeball robots and Green Dream. I'm kind of apprehensive about this, guys. If they decide to rewrite canon any more than they already have, I won't be happy. But, as we've already established, I don't own it, so I really have no say. Shame, really. We all know what I would do with the series.

…

Chapter Two: Riptides

"Aoko!" Kaito called after her as he raced out of the ballroom, following at a jog as he watched her dashing down the hall towards the powder room as fast as she could in high heels that she honestly wasn't used to wearing. He cringed as she faltered twice and then a third time.

"Aoko!" he called again, catching up quickly but not before she ducked into the ladies' restroom. "Aww, c'mon, Aoko!"

There was no response from her, so he took a breath and only hesitated a second or two before going in after her. He was really hoping that she was sitting in the longue area just outside the actual toilets.

His luck held out, and he found her seated on the little Victorian-style loveseat pushed up against the wall with a replica of Monet's water lily painting hung on it.

She was sobbing softly into her elegantly gloved hands, messing up her carefully done makeup.

He sighed softly and, scratching the back of his head, slowly went over to sit on the couch beside her.

"A-Aoko just got something stuck in her eye!" the strong-willed girl tried to come up with an excuse, anything to save her from the mortification and him from the worry. Anything to avoid the subject. "And Kaito can't be here! This is the women's restroom!" Her sobs turned to indignant shrieks.

He ignored both the lies and the protests, simply whispering, "I should have told you sooner."

She didn't respond verbally, but she physically shrunk, deflating because she knew she wasn't getting anything past him. They were going to have this conversation now, whether she wanted to or not, and all of her hard work saving for the dress and all of her time spent doing her hair and makeup with such careful attention was going to go to waste because she would not be sharing her first kiss with Kuroba Kaito this evening.

"So…that was Kudo Shinichi," Kaito mumbled, wondering how he was going to make this right. Normally words came at his beck and call, wrapping around his tongue, swirling through the air, and entrancing his listeners. Usually the right words came to him in even the trickiest situations, helping to finagle his way out of all manner of tight spots. Now…now the right words to fix his problem with Aoko were eluding him.

He tried again, "I'm sorry, Aoko. I should have said something a long time ago, but…for a long time I felt the same way for you, but now…just…all through high school I kept trying to make it work, and I clung on to the hope that someday things would work out between us, but…you're not the only one shocked to find out that I like guys, you know; it was pretty difficult for me to wrap my own head around, so…"

"Who is he?" Aoko finally replied in a frigid whisper. "Why him?"

"Shinichi?" Kaito shifted awkwardly. "He…he was the one that made me realize that I wasn't as straight as I thought I was."

"You just met him half an hour ago!" Aoko screeched, finally looking at him, eyes burning with rage that she was desperately trying to conceal.

Kaito shook his head. "I first met him at a Kid heist when we were sixteen or seventeen. He's participated in a few heists over the years on the down-low because he couldn't risk media exposure because of a dangerous undercover case he was working, but…that one time, I met him, and…things just…finally felt right, like it all fell into place. He really…kind of ninjaed my brain, I guess, and I haven't been able to get him out of my head all these years, so…tonight we finally met for real, and now I actually think I have a shot at some kind of relationship or something, so…"

She had clammed back up again.

He sighed, burying his face in his hands. He thought for a minute before running his hands through his hair and sitting back up.

"Aoko, it's not like you're really losing out or anything," he informed her just in case she hadn't realized it yet. "I mean…sure I have my good points, but…honestly? Let's just get it out there: I'm self-serving, insensitive, perverted, and immature. I'm not the kind of guy that you want to marry and support you. I'm irresponsible and, as Haku-chan likes to remind me, downright insufferable sometimes. I might make you smile and laugh on occasion, Aoko, but I'm not the right long-term partner for you."

"Why do you get to decide what's right for Aoko?!" she challenged.

He sighed again, unable to look at her as he replied, "Because you're not thinking clearly. You're upset, and you have every right to be, so you shouldn't be making major life decisions on your own. We've been friends for _years_, Aoko. I know you, and I know what you need, as presumptuous as it might be to say so. But I've been watching you this whole time, measuring myself up against that list, that image of what's right for you, and I _don't_ measure up, Aoko. When I'm being completely honest with myself, I know that I don't make the cut."

"You're such an idiot!" she screamed, balling up her fists as her hands itched for a mop handle. "I hate you! How dare you try to boss me around and tell me you know better! The only person in Aoko's heart…the only person that's ever been in Aoko's heart is Kaito. How is Aoko supposed to just forget about all of that now, you jerk!?"

"You don't have to do it overnight," Kaito suggested gently.

"Kaito's so cruel," she mumbled, staring down at her hands gripping the skirt of her dress as she trembled. "What's so good about Kudo Shinichi? Why isn't Aoko good enough?"

"Aoko, it's not like I'm leaving you for him or anything," Kaito struggled to explain, knowing in his heart that he was messing this entire thing up. He wasn't getting across to her. "Aoko, if anything, you're too good for me."

"Just get out," she muttered, not looking at him.

He opened his mouth to argue, but she snapped back, cutting him off: "GET OUT! Aoko doesn't want to talk to you anymore! Get out! Get out! Get out!"

He sighed and got to his feet, turning back once he got to the door. "Aoko…" He gave a deep bow. "I'm sorry for being such a coward and not having the courage to tell you sooner. I'm really, really sorry."

Kaito came up slowly and slipped out into the hall. He pressed his back up against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor, not really caring about getting carpet fuzz or dirt on his black dress suit. He pulled out his phone and texted Hakuba.

The Brit came promptly and frowned at the sight of Kaito hunched up, sitting on the floor. He raised an eyebrow.

Kaito shook his head. "I totally blew it, and now she's just mad. Help?"

"Of course." Saguru nodded, resting a hand on his roommate's head and gently patting it. "I believe that that was just one of those conversations that could not be brought to a satisfying conclusion for either party no matter what clever words you used or how exactly you phrased it. Rejection hurts regardless, especially when there are so many years of passionate feelings tied up in it all…. You two have a lot invested in each other."

The blonde smiled in an encouraging manner down at Kaito. "You shouldn't despair too much, though, Kuroba. You two _do_ have a great deal invested in each other, and there is a solid friendship between you. I highly doubt she's just going to walk away after all of that. I just can't think that even your strong foundation as friends would crumble just because your relationship is not being taken to a romantic level. She probably just needs some time to cool off and sort things out. Leave her alone for a month or so."

Kaito nodded, closing his eyes and leaning into Saguru's comforting touch. "Haku-chan, you always know just what to say to make it all better. You should be an advice columnist or a romance guru or something."

Saguru rolled his eyes and mumbled in embarrassment, "I only know what to say because I know _you_, Kuroba. I'd hardly be of any use to anyone else."

"So long as you're there for me," Kaito chuckled, smiling weakly up at his best friend.

"Oh, I've got too much invested in you to just leave you now," Saguru laughed, teasing softly. "Do remember that I originally hopped continents just to be with you."

"Haku-chan, you're so romantic," Kaito cooed, making his way to his feet. "You make my legs feel like jelly."

"That would be from you cutting off the circulation in your legs, sitting like that for too long, I expect, you silly git." Saguru reached out and pinched Kaito's nose while wearing a rather smug half-smirk. "Now go home and get some rest. I'll text you as soon as I get her back to her house."

Kaito nodded, turning to leave. "Thanks, Haku-chan…. I really appreciate it."

"Of course. Honestly, Kuroba, think nothing of it," Saguru assured.

Kaito bit his lip but nodded again. "Right. I'm counting on you."

"And your trust is in the right place," Saguru chuckled, giving Kaito a gentle push. "I haven't failed you yet, have I?"

Kaito shook his head, an almost genuine smile settling onto his face.

"Alright. Then go already," Hakuba urged, and the magician set off after another round of heartfelt thanks.

Saguru took a deep breath as he prepared to knock on the ladies' room's door. "Aoko-kun? Are you in there? It's Hakuba."

He waited nearly a minute and a half (in reality, it was eighty-six seconds and some change) before he rapped on the door again. "Aoko-kun? …Aoko-kun, are you alright?"

He bit his lip and knocked once more. "Aoko-kun, please say something. You know full well that I can't come in there after you, and I'm quite concerned about you, so…please won't you answer?"

He waited thirty-two seconds more before trying, "Would you rather I get one of the female officers? Would you feel more comforta—"

The bathroom door opened just a crack, only enough room to perhaps pass a grain of rice through.

"I-It's fine," Aoko sniffled on the other side of the door. "Aoko's fine, Hakuba-kun. You don't have to worry about me."

"Aoko-kun…" Saguru bit his lip. It was killing him to see (hear) the woman he loved in such a state. "No, I imagine you are certainly not fine, and it would be deplorable of me as a gentleman to leave you in such a condition. If you'd like, you may remain in there until you calm down, and then I shall escort you home. If you'd rather, Aoko-kun, I'm always here at your service and willing to listen and talk things out. If you'd prefer, I could always just walk you home now, if you wanted to mourn in privacy."

"Aoko's fine on her own," Aoko protested weakly.

"Aoko-kun, I won't insist on you confiding in me, but I _will_ see you safely home this evening. It is late at night and too dangerous for a beautiful young woman such as yourself to be walking around Tokyo dressed as you are past the time of night when the trains have stopped running. You don't have to talk to me. You don't have to look at me. You don't even have to acknowledge my existence, but I _will_ escort you to your abode."

"…The trains are still running," Aoko argued half-heartedly after a beat.

"They won't be by the time you manage to walk to the nearest station in those crippling torture devices you have strapped to your feet," Saguru replied just a little roughly.

There was silence on the other side of the door and then, "I don't want you to see me like this. I'm ugly."

Saguru sighed, turning so that his back rested against the wall next to the door. "Aoko-kun, you are aware that I'm in love with you…aren't you? I mean…I will be formally confessing at a later date, but…you do have some idea of how I feel for you, don't you?"

"U-Un," she replied almost inaudibly, cheeks turning an even darker shade of crimson than the one already painted on her face thanks to her tears. "Aoko knows." This was another one of those conversations that she really didn't feel like having tonight.

Saguru nodded, trying to take her seeming indifference to his love in stride. "Good. And you're very intelligent Aoko-kun, so I gather that you can extrapolate that, logically, since I am in love with you, I would praise you as a goddess among women even when clothed in jogging sweats. Are we agreed?"

"Un," she responded again, shifting nervously just a foot or two away on the other side of the door. "Ha-Hakuba-kun…"

"Not that my opinion holds any weight with you," he continued in a mutter. "Aoko-kun, I know that what I think doesn't count for much to you, but—"

"—Stop calling me 'Aoko-kun'." She suddenly switched topics.

The authority and indignation with which she said it threw Saguru a little off balance. He blinked. "Very well. What would you have me call you?"

"…Just 'Aoko'. We've been friends for a few years now, haven't we? If you have to add anything, add '-san', but stop calling me 'Aoko-kun'." He could hear the blush on her cheeks in her voice.

"…Aoko," he tested it out, but it sounded too familiar, too intimate, bare as it was like that. It wouldn't do to try to fool himself and others into thinking that they were any closer than they really were. "-san," he finished after a brief pause. "Aoko-san, would you prefer to be taken home now, or would you like to wait until you've collected your composure a bit more?"

She sighed softly, opening the door and stepping out into the hall with a defiant look on her face, as if she was just daring him to make something of her smeared makeup and puffy red eyes.

He smiled softly, resisting the urge to smooth her hair or touch her cheek. Instead he took out his pocket handkerchief and wiped away the smudges and nearly dried tears. "There," he breathed. "Radiant."

Her cheeks turned fuchsia as the defiant look hardened. "Let's go already."

"As you wish." Saguru bowed slightly and motioned for her to lead the way with an air of "Ladies first".

She snorted as if his very existence offended her, but he knew that she was just embarrassed and grieving what she had thought to be her one true love.

Saguru got their coats and held up Aoko's for her to slip on, but she grabbed it away from him and insisted on doing it herself. He dipped his head in a courteous bow once more, much like a butler dutifully accepting the attitude of his young mistress, and he let her do as she wished. He knew Aoko was in pain, so he didn't take her cold behavior personally.

"Aoko-san, why don't we take a taxi?" Saguru suggested as Aoko passed up the taxi stand. "I'll pay for it, so, really, the cost is no issue. Like I mentioned before, the trains won't be running by the time we reach the station."

"Aoko wants to walk," she insisted stubbornly even as he tried to dissuade her.

Seeing that she would not relent, he finally gave up, mentally assuring himself that they could always call for a cab along the way because inevitably her feet would tire and she would eventually be unable to walk any further.

They walked on without speaking for a good ten minutes before Saguru finally broke the silence. "Did you want to talk about it, Aoko-san? …If so, I was serious about being there to listen…. If not…that's fine as well."

For at least another minute Aoko didn't respond, but then she quietly whispered, "He talks to you, right?"

Saguru shrugged. "Kuroba? Whenever the whim strikes him, he does. Sometimes he blabbers on and on whether I want him to or not, and sometimes he clams up and refuses to tell me anything. Why do you ask?"

"Did he tell you what Aoko did wrong?" She was trying very, very hard not to let her voice crack.

Saguru stopped suddenly, stunned by her words. He slowly turned, and his brow wrinkled in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What Aoko did wrong that made Kaito stop…stop loving Aoko." Her voice did break that time.

He steered her over to a bench and sat her down, pulling out his pocket handkerchief and dabbing away at her eyes as the tears started to fall once more. Eventually he gave up the herculean task of trying to keep her face dry and handed the handkerchief over so that she could do damage control on her own. He decided to focus on comforting her with words. "Aoko-san, it wasn't anything that you did. Trust me."

Aoko blinked, looking up at Saguru in a bit of a daze, as if she couldn't quite get her head around the concept. Surely she had to have done something, but…the way Hakuba spoke…so firmly and with such certainty. It made her start to doubt.

And then he continued, "Aoko-san, I assure you that Kuroba still cares for you very, very much. He just…he thinks of you as…more of his dear sister than a prospective wife. It wasn't anything that you did or didn't do that made his feelings towards you change, Aoko-san. The change has been gradual yet steady over the past few years. When we first met in high school, Kuroba was very much in love with you, but…over time, I believe he's realized that he's not suitable for you."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Aoko growled as she stood up unsteadily. She took a minute to get her balance before she started to storm off slowly in her heels. "Why does everyone think that Kaito's no good for Aoko?! Why does everyone else get to decide that?!"

Saguru got to his feet as well and quickly caught up with his beloved. "Because Kuroba has changed over the years. He keeps secrets from you, and, honestly, there's a part of him that you don't know about, that he's kept hidden from you, that you would absolutely be unable to accept. I am not at liberty to discuss his affairs with you, Aoko-san, but know that he's not entirely the man you think he is."

"Kaito's not bad!" she screamed back at him. She balled her hands into fists and it was beginning to look like she'd pummel him if he continued to impugn Kuroba's honor. "Aoko won't let you say bad things about Kaito!"

Saguru nodded, taking an emotional step back from the situation. "Of course Kuroba's not bad. Kuroba is one of the best, most honorable men I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Deep down he's a good man with a good heart, but that doesn't change the fact that he lies to you and keeps secrets and breaks promises. Aoko-san, in order to have a healthy relationship, in order to create a good marriage, the participants have to be honest with each other. One has to build a lifetime partnership on trust, and you can't do that with Kuroba."

Aoko looked down at her feet and slowed her pace even more as she struggled to absorb what Hakuba was telling her.

He continued softly, "That being said, Aoko-san, it's not _your_ fault. You haven't done anything to lose his affections. You've done nothing wrong, so please don't blame yourself. Kuroba is the one who's changed. It's not that you messed things up or that you're not good enough, so please don't think that."

Aoko nodded almost imperceptibly, still processing.

They walked a little further in silence, each dealing with their own thoughts.

"Thank you," Aoko mumbled a few minutes later. Her voice was quiet and weak, so he almost didn't hear it.

"You're very welcome," Saguru assured, fighting the urge to reach out and touch her. He wanted to hold her, to offer some tangible form of comfort, but he knew that it wasn't his place and that his attempts to help would not be appreciated. All he could do for now was stand beside her and reassure her that everything would be okay. "I just wish there were more I could do for you," he sighed, truly frustrated at his own uselessness.

She shook her head and wiped away her tears with his handkerchief. "You're doing more than enough, Hakuba-kun. Thank you…and sorry. Sorry that Aoko is being so rude and ungrateful."

Saguru shook his head and smiled lovingly at her. "I understand completely, and I assure you that I won't hold it against you."

"Thank you," Aoko muttered again.

Silence descended upon the pair once more as they fell into step beside one another.

"Are you quite warm enough?" Saguru inquired as they entered the final leg of their thirty minute walk back to the Nakamori residence. "You're more than welcome to my coat, if you need it."

She shook her head, still gazing at her own feet. "Hakuba-kun's too nice."

"Not at all. How are your feet doing?" He cast a worried glance downward, but the appendages in question were hidden by Aoko's dress for the most part. "From what I can see, they look okay, but it's so cold, and you're wearing those ridiculous shoes."

"They're not too bad." She shrugged.

"Take mine. I'll walk barefoot." He stopped and began to pull his shoe off.

"Hakuba-kun, no," she protested. "Aoko's not wearing your shoes."

"Let me call a cab, then. I'm worried about you. I should have called one ten minutes ago. I never should have let you walk all this way in the first place," he insisted.

She kept walking. "It's only about ten more minutes. By the time the cab gets here it won't make much difference. It's better to walk than to just sit and wait out in the cold. Come on. Let's go."

Saguru sighed as he realized that she was right. He should have insisted upon the cab at the very start. "I'm sorry, Aoko-san," he whispered as he came up beside her once more. "You're sure you're alright?"

"Stop apologizing. Aoko's fin—ah!" Just then, the heel of her shoe snapped, sending her falling towards the pavement.

Saguru instinctively reached out to catch her.

They blinked in surprise, staring at each other for a minute before righting themselves, pulling away and displaying suitable levels of embarrassment.

And then they surveyed the damage done.

"You're not going to be able to walk like that," Saguru observed, biting his bottom lip as possible solutions filtered through his mind. Finally he arrived upon an acceptable plan of action. "I'll carry you."

Aoko blinked incredulously. He could see the thought "You're gonna what?" as it scrolled through her mind.

He picked her up bridal style before she could protest, and then he fought to keep his mind in check. It had already started cooking up fantasies of carrying Aoko in a wedding dress and white picket fences and what their children would look like. And that all led to thoughts of having to police "Uncle Kaito" around the children lest he teach them how to pick locks or crack safes or disable security devices or plant bugs or, God forbid, dye the dog's fur neon rainbow colors. This made Saguru grimace, a look that, in the present moment, Aoko misinterpreted.

"Hakuba-kun, put Aoko down. Aoko can walk. She's so heavy!" the inspector's daughter urged with a cherry blossom blush painting her cheeks in the dim light that the streetlamp provided.

Saguru chuckled softly in embarrassment. "Sorry. You're fine, Aoko-san. You're barely over a hundred pounds. That face was…Sorry. I was just thinking that I need to keep Kuroba away from my future dog. I have a feeling he'll dye it bloody chartreuse."

"…Oh," she replied quietly, making a mental note not to ask next time.

And then that silence that was growing rather familiar fell upon them once more as Saguru struggled to keep the happily married couple fantasies at bay and Aoko did her best to think light, delicate, fat-free thoughts. She was suddenly regretting going back for seconds of those cheesecake bites. What if Hakuba told her she was fat like Kaito always had?

Mercifully they arrived at the house before too much longer.

Saguru carefully set Aoko down, and then they both shifted awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

"Well," Saguru cleared his throat, nervously fingering the collar of his dress shirt. "I suppose I should take my leave now."

He bit his lip and hesitated.

She was staring back at him biting her own lip with a look on her face that told him to stay.

"Hakuba-kun?" she gulped.

"Y-Yes?" He stood up a little straighter.

"Thank you." Aoko bent at the waist, coming into a full, deep bow. "Thank you for everything, and, again, sorry."

"Not at all," he laughed, politely returning the bow. "It really was my pleasure being able to escort you home, and it's really nothing to worry about."

"Still…" She raised her head and looked right at him again with those lovely cornflower eyes. "Thank you."

"Of course," he assured, so tempted to kiss her, even though he knew that it just wouldn't do. No gentleman would take advantage like that, and it was perfectly clear that any advances on his part would be unwelcome. And so he bowed again, this time not so low. "Any time."

She was still looking at him when he came to standing once more, and now he was getting antsy. Just what was expected of him? What was he supposed to do?

"Hakuba-kun…you like Aoko, right?" She seemed to be holding her breath while she waited for his answer.

"Yes," he replied automatically. "Yes, absolutely."

She smiled softly, making his heart turn to bubbling goo and his cheeks glow cinnabar.

"…Then…will you go out with Aoko…Saguru?" Slowly she leaned in and pressed her lips against his in a chaste, hesitant kiss.

His brain had joined his heart in liquefying when she had called him by his given name, and so his reaction time was very poor when it came to gently pulling back, away from the soft lips that he had been dreaming about kissing for years now.

"No," he whispered, and it took all of his willpower to do so. "Not at the moment, no."

She blinked in confusion, brow furrowing in disappointment and tears beginning to well in the corners of her eyes. "But…why not?"

Saguru looked away but kept his body angled towards hers. He smiled gently. "Because you're not actually interested in me personally. What you're seeking right now is comfort in the form of a relationship. Maybe a few years ago I would have accepted the role of your rebound enthusiastically, but…someone has taught me that I have to respect myself more than that. They've taught me that I'm good enough to be in a real relationship with someone that truly cares for me…that I'm better than just being the guy that someone uses and loses."

"K-Kaito," she hazarded a guess.

Saguru nodded, looking back at her. "He's a good friend. He told me about two years ago that he liked me, so I'd better start liking me too. He said that it all started with a sense of self-worth, and I've since gained that. And so I refuse to enter into a relationship with you until you are feeling better and more emotionally stable and are able to see me as I am and accept me anyway. Until then, I'd be more than happy to comfort you and listen to you as your _friend_…. Are you alright?"

She nodded, unable to find her voice for a minute or two. "…Sorry," she finally whispered.

He shook his head, easily shrugging it off. "Like I've said before, I completely understand what with your current situation and think no less of you for it. Do you need anything before I head home? Is there anything I can do for you?"

She just looked at him for a minute, really looking at him for the first time. "…Saguru-kun really is really nice. Too nice to Aoko."

"Nonsense," he chuckled with a blush of embarrassment shading his cheeks. "Well…I should be on my way then."

"Will Saguru-kun come with Aoko tomorrow to do the temple visit?" she blurted out and then held her breath.

Saguru blinked, lips slightly parted as his brain processed. "O-Of course. I could pick you up at eleven, if you like."

Aoko nodded enthusiastically. "And…we could get lunch together afterwards?"

"Platonically, yes," he warily agreed, knowing he was susceptible to manipulation and easily swayed by her.

"And maybe walk in the park after that? Yoyogi Park?" she hesitantly started presenting her previously planned itinerary. Originally she'd thought she'd be spending the day with her new boyfriend Kaito, but…

"I suppose, yes," he gave another inch.

"And then maybe walking to Harajuku and window shopping?"

"By which time we'll probably need to get some non-romantic dinner," he added.

And then she smiled brightly, making his heart tap dance in his ribcage.

And then he knew it was time to leave because, really, one could only be a gentleman for so bloody long, and he had no business being there while she was emotionally vulnerable, wearing that captivating dress, and without her father at home. It had drained his entire storage of self-control for the week to pull away from her kiss earlier. He was no match for the temptation posed by the couches and the bedrooms if she were to invite him inside for tea.

"Good night, Aoko-san. I'll be by at eleven to pick you up," he assured with a polite smile and a brief bow. And then he turned and hightailed it out of there, barely waiting until she had finished her own farewell.

He called a cab and texted Kuroba "Mission Complete" as he rode back to the dorm.

…

Kaito was waiting up when Saguru got home. "So?"

Saguru shrugged in exhaustion, beginning to strip. "What?"

The magician stared at him in wide-eyed wonder, looking like some small, adorable woodland creature. "How did it go?" he groaned like the answer to Saguru's question had been obvious.

In retrospect, it was a little bit considering the situation, but Saguru was going to claim fatigue on that one. "I believe she'll be okay with time, Kuroba," he replied, knowing what it was that Kaito really cared about.

"What about you?" Kaito quickly returned. "Are _you_ okay? Are you going to be okay?"

Saguru paused on undoing his belt buckle to really think about it. "…Perhaps. Interacting with her has always been trying because of her feelings for you at odds with my feelings for her, but…I think tonight things just got easier…in some respects, anyway. I feel like the real test is just now beginning. In all honesty, things will most likely just get harder from now on."

"I don't follow you." Kaito frowned in confusion from where he was rolling around on Saguru's bottom bunk.

"I believe I've agreed to be her platonic rebound. We're going on a not-date tomorrow. Well, technically, later today, but…" Saguru explained.

Kaito blinked, face impassive. He waited a beat for Saguru to start laughing and say that it was a joke or something, but after fifteen seconds of silence it was starting to look like the blonde was serious.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Kaito scoffed.

"Only that I love her and that she needs me." Saguru shrugged again as he slipped into his pajamas. "Out of my bed or scoot over, Kuroba."

Kaito inched to the right.

"Seriously?" Saguru grumbled when he realized that the magician had no intention of actually vacating the bunk.

"And you're going to be okay being her boyfriend but not actually being her boyfriend at the same time?" Kaito gave his friend a skeptical look.

"Yes, because things will be one hundred percent platonic between us. I'm not her boyfriend, I'm her friend, and I intend to be there for her as a friend until she is emotionally well enough to be in a serious relationship." Saguru rolled over onto his side with his back to Kaito, hoping that his roommate would take the hint and go sleep in his own bed or at least cut the chitchat.

"I don't think this is any good for you, Haku-chan…. I'm worried about you," Kaito whispered in the darkness.

"You're worried that I won't be able to say no to her…that I'll give in to her and that she'll end up hurting me," Saguru surmised.

"Well, yeah," Kaito lightly snorted as if it were obvious.

"To be honest, I'm a little worried myself, but…she did kiss me tonight, and I was able to pull back and tell her no. I was very clear with her about where I stand and how I have no intention of letting myself be so caught up in her that I compromise my self-respect and all that, so…I did try to set some boundaries." Saguru frowned in worry, seriously concerned that he might have made a mistake.

"Good," Kaito breathed in relief. "So long as you stick to your guns about it. I'll be there to police you on it, though."

"Thank you," Saguru returned with sincerity. "I probably will need the help from time to time until she actually starts seeing me for me…which may take a few years."

"It's not like I'm going anywhere," Kaito chuckled.

Saguru grimaced. "Yes. I do seem to be stuck with you, don't I?"

This earned him Kaito's retribution in the form of nuzzling. "You know you love me," Kaito announced as he rubbed his nose against Saguru's neck and ear and hair.

"I honestly don't know why I tolerate you. Now stop. Stop that," Saguru commanded, but even his voice was tired, and there was no force behind the words.

"Because we're bestest best friends!" Kaito sang, and Saguru gave up.

"I suppose so. Don't you have your own bed to sleep in?" All he really wanted to do was close his eyes and drift off to sleep.

"That bed's cold. I've already been working on warming this one up for an hour and a half now, and I'm unwilling to let you enjoy the fruits of my labor while I lie shivering." Kaito gave a proud snort.

"For the love of…" Saguru took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It would only take a few minutes to warm up your own bed."

"Mmhm, but that's beside the point," Kaito chuckled, mood swinging rapidly in a way that would worry those not accustomed to Kaito. "So?"

"So what?" Saguru drawled sleepily.

"How was the kiss?"

Saguru blushed a brilliant shade of scarlet to rival that of a London phone booth or a Tokyo postbox. He muttered something under his breath so low that not even Kaito's ears could pick it up.

"Hn? What was that? Sordid details, Haku-chan! Sordid details! Share!" Kaito urged like a three year-old.

"There was nothing sordid about it," Saguru corrected turning over to face his eternal tormentor. "It was…innocent…and shy. She just barely brushed her lips to mine."

Kaito blinked in surprise. "Really? That's it?"

"Yes," Saguru insisted.

"Just like this?" Kaito moved in for a peck before Saguru could stop him.

Saguru's mouth fell open and he stared back at Kaito in incredulity. "Yes. Just like that, but not God-awful and repulsive and vomit-inducing, among many other horrible things that that thing you did just now was."

Saguru sat up, grabbed a pillow, and repeatedly socked Kaito with it as the magician cackled, finding the whole ordeal inappropriately funny.

"Die, vile creature," Saguru hissed, but soon he tired of simply hitting Kaito with the pillow and instead tried to suffocate the magician. "Suffer and die and then be reborn as a bug which I can crush underfoot."

"Haku-chan, stop!" Kaito shrieked in laughter, arms and legs all flailing as he attempted (half-heartedly) to fight Saguru off.

The pillow got kicked away in the scuffle, and several minutes later found Saguru straddling Kaito with his hands around the magician's throat.

Kaito looked up at him breathlessly, gasping for air between laughs.

Saguru sighed, releasing his light hold in favor of flicking Kaito on the forehead. "Idiot…. I suppose I shouldn't kill you in my bed. It'd be rather obvious who the culprit was."

"You could always say that we were doing something kinky and things went a bit too far," Kaito suggested helpfully.

Saguru frowned and gave Kaito's throat another well-deserved squeeze.

"So you had a good first kiss, then?" Kaito smiled innocently up at Saguru, as if the thief had done nothing wrong.

Saguru returned to contemplations of murder once more. "May I remind you that that was not my first kiss? You stole that. Remember? Senior year of high school? My birthday party? Inflatable flamingos?"

Kaito smirked, chuckling at the memory. "Oh yeah." And then he noticed that Saguru was glaring down murderously at him. He quickly put on a penitent expression. "Right. Again, sorry about that. Totally my bad and completely inexcusable."

"Idiot," Saguru sighed, rolling off of his roommate and retrieving the lost pillow. He straightened the sheets as best as he could around Kaito before climbing back in. "Go to sleep before I really do decide to finally kill you."

But Kaito wasn't done talking yet. "I kissed Shinichi too, you know," he announced softly, equal parts wonder and disbelief in his voice.

Saguru turned to stare at his friend. "You did? And he let you?"

Kaito blushed, squirming a little in a mix of pride and embarrassment. "Well, it was just on the cheek, but…he didn't punch me or anything or look grossed out, so…"

"Good. I'm glad," Saguru replied, and he really did mean it. "…Kuroba…when exactly was it that you started to like—"

"—Guys?" Kaito chimed in with a sheepish chuckle.

"No," Saguru corrected. "I've been aware of your sexual preferences since not long after we met. I was going to ask when you'd developed feelings for Kudo Shinichi. To my knowledge, you two haven't had much interaction. I'm a little concerned about your just diving right into a relationship with this guy."

"We're not diving in; we're not actually dating yet," Kaito grumbled. "And how did you know I liked guys? I didn't even know I liked guys until…I guess like a year or so ago, so…how did you know before I did?"

Saguru just smiled. "Your behavior gives you away. Most of it is subconscious, but…the Kaitou Kid has an uncanny habit of hitting on other males just as often as, if not, more so than, females, and it's a very common occurrence, him dressing up as a woman. Most of the time you remain very professional while in your disguise, but I noticed that you rather enjoy the attention you garnered from males in particular. There was also the more conclusive evidence that you…uh…well…I often caught you staring at my butt. While I surmised that you didn't consider me as a prospective romantic partner, your habit of ogling me had some…implications as to your preferences."

"Oh." Kaito nodded as he chewed uncomfortably on his lips. "Huh."

"Right. And…about Kudo?" Saguru kindly did not dwell on the previous subject.

"Yeah…Shinichi…" Kaito hummed, wondering just how much exactly he wanted to say. "I met him while you were out of the country. It was that clock tower heist. I thought the whole thing was going to be a cakewalk without you there, but…he could see through me…anticipate me at every turn. Being read like that was…it was different from the way you make a nuisance of yourself."

"Hey now," Saguru interjected. "Though, I suppose I can be honored that the great Kaitou Kid considers me a nuisance."

"He knew exactly what I would do," Kaito continued, feeling his body tingle as he remember how that first time going head to head with Kudo Shinichi had felt. "And each time I realized that he had seen through me and my tricks one after another…it felt like a little electric shock…like getting your wires crossed. It was thrilling, and I actually kinda liked how it felt. At first I thought that I'd just found a good rival; I didn't realize how I really felt until much later."

Saguru nodded, but he was now worried. "So…you're planning on basing this relationship on how he made you feel when on a heist, only without letting him find out that you're really a thief? He's already suspicious of you, you know. He doesn't seem like the type that would trap and betray you from what he said when I spoke to him, but…do you know for sure that you trust him, Kuroba? Are you really willing to risk everything for the way he made you feel once?"

"Not just once," Kaito corrected. "That wasn't the only time. You know how we were talking before about how Shinichi had been gone for a while and you suspected he'd gotten mixed up in something really nasty? During that time, those two years while he was in hiding, he still came to Kid's heists. He's been chasing me for two years, and every time I go up against him, he makes me feel…I don't know. I just can't describe it, but…when the heist's over and I start thinking about how I don't know when I'll see him again…then I feel cold. It's like all the heat's been sucked out of the air. Hollow," Kaito whispered. "Empty."

Saguru nodded, knowing the feeling well. "You really are in love with him."

"Yeah," Kaito sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do if I can't make him feel the same way about me."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Saguru chuckled softly. "From what I observed, he's on his way there. However, if it should come to it, I believe we get a gallon of Rocky Road ice cream and eat it in its entirety while watching chick flicks. It's also my understanding that we slash his tires and spread terrible rumors that he's bad in bed and secretly balding or that he doesn't shower or sweats profusely or something equally embarrassing in order to disqualify him as a potential mate to future romantic partners."

Kaito blinked, staring at his best friend, unable to believe what had just come out of Hakuba's mouth. "…Seriously?"

"I believe that that's the tradition," Saguru replied, quite seriously. "You could also cut your hair to symbolize a new chapter of your life beginning, but eating ice cream, watching terrible movies, and spreading gossip sounds like more fun, so…"

"And you'd be willing to do these things with me?" Kaito raised an eyebrow at his roommate.

"Of course." Saguru shrugged. "Not that it matters if I'm willing or not; it's in the 'best friend' job description. I'm required to be there for you during your time of suffering in order to offer support and make sure that you don't go overboard and get fat or arrested."

Kaito turned his head so as to muffle his giggle fit in the pillow. "Haku-chan, have I told you how awesome you are recently?"

"Not terribly recently, but do save your breath and go to sleep, Kuroba. It's ridiculously early in the morning, and I have a not-date later today that I'd really like to be well rested for."

But Kaito refused to sleep and only ended up changing topics. "Speaking of dates, I can't believe that I get to see Shinichi again in just a few hours!"

Saguru sighed, rolling over so that his back was to Kaito yet again. He could tell that this was going to be a long night.

…

Mikau: There. See? I told you it was long. Next chapter is turning out to be about the same length. I've just got a really rough draft of it done, though, so things could change. I'll try to have it polished and up for next week. Thanks for tuning in, guys! A thought: Kaito and Saguru's floormates at the dorm probably hate them. They're so loud in the middle of the night. The floormates are probably too scared of Kaito to complain, though. Poor dears. Anyway, what did you think? Yes, I know there's no direct KaiShin in this chapter, but you'll have plenty of that in chapter three. I hope you liked it. Thanks so much for reading, and thanks in advance for your reviews, everyone! Have an awesome week!


	3. Surge

Mikau: Hello everyone! Thanks for joining me once again! Would you believe I've been trying to get this chapter up since Sunday? I got back from vacation late Saturday night and then I started the editing process Sunday morning, but…Sunday afternoon I went and adopted two puppies. ^.^; I was only going to get one, but they were the only two left of their litter and they looked like buddies and I didn't want to leave one behind, so… I'm actually really surprised that my mom let me get two when she didn't even want one. Anyway, their names are Eiko and Noiz (Echo and Noise), and they're such good dogs! Only they're babies, so they need a lot of care and supervision. Anyway, thanks so much for your patience guys, and thank you especially to everyone who reviewed last time: 9angel, MeitanteiRose, Assasin8, Meli-chan27, Bunnyz-chan, GeekyGenius, Mgluvsbl25, twilightserius, and farawisa! Thank you all so much for your support!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd like to do an episode where the police actually get to do their job. It would be cool to have an episode that followed Takagi around.

…

Chapter Three: Surge

Kaito really didn't get much sleep. He chattered on all night about Shinichi, dozing off only for brief periods of time before he would wake up and pick up right where he'd left off…or thereabouts. More often than not, he'd just pick a new, Shinichi-centric topic of conversation and run with it, but he kept talking until the sun came up and Saguru finally kicked him out of the bed. Literally.

The sleep-deprived detective climbed over Kaito so that he was now the one up against the wall, and he literally kicked Kaito out of the bed.

Kaito proceeded to shower and get dressed, talking all the while whether Saguru were actually listening or not.

"Haku-chan, does this outfit make me look fat?" Kaito pouted as he did a little turn.

Saguru said something very unkind.

"How about this one?" Kaito quickly changed and posed like a model in front of the mirror. "I think red's my color."

Saguru replied that Kaito would soon be covered in red, black, and blue, if he kept the surly detective from dreamland any longer.

"What do you think of this outfit? Do you think Shinichi will like it?" Kaito turned round and round, studying the new outfit from all angles.

"Yes. Smegging hell, yes, Kuroba, you bloody idjit. You're the sexiest man alive, and Kudo is likely to propose upon glimpsing your marvelous visage. Now get the hell out or shut the hell up before I take a crowbar to your kneecaps."

And that settled that. No matter how excited he was about his date with Shin-chan, Kaito had pushed his poor roommate too far. He made a mental note to bake the blonde cookies or something later.

It was more of an afterthought, though as Kaito left the dorm. Kaito's thoughts were filled to the brim with Shinichi. It was hard to contain his excitement as he rode the train to Beika and walked briskly towards the Kudo Manor. Kaito wanted to jump and skip, sing and leap for joy. "Date with Shinichi!" his heart trilled.

And then he felt absolutely sick as he found himself standing on the porch about to ring the bell. What ifs started to swim around in his mind like a frightened, frantic school of fish, evading some deadly predator.

What if Shinichi didn't feel the same way? What if Shinichi rejected him? What if Shinichi found out about the whole phantom thief thing and called their relationship off?

Kaito pushed the button on the intercom before the what ifs could bleed his self-confidence dry.

The door opened, and there was Shinichi smiling brightly at him. The detective looked stunning. He glowed in the light of day, making Kaito realize that Shinichi was far more beautiful than he had ever previously realized. The grainy lighting indoors and the pale light of the moon had never done Kudo Shinichi justice, and now Kaito was feeling utterly insecure, but…Shinichi was smiling at him. Completely unbridled joy graced his features, lighting up his face, and it was breathtaking.

Kaito couldn't help but grin as well. "Hey there! Morning, Shin-chan!" Kaito chuckled with glee.

"Hey," Shinichi replied, cool and collected and utterly sexy.

On the inside, Shinichi was panicking. He couldn't help but feel that he was looking at something he shouldn't. The sight of the elusive Kaitou Kid unmasked in the naked light of day seemed like something sacred that he was unworthy of looking at directly, but there he was looking at it anyway, and it was mesmerizing.

"How'd you sleep?" Kaito chuckled, trying to play it cool and act semi-normal.

Shinichi blushed as he remembered his Kaito-filled dreams. He scratched his cheek nervously, averting his eyes as he shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I could have probably used more sleep, but the coffee will take care of that. How about you? How did everything work out last night?"

Kaito shrugged as well, slowly letting out a sigh. "Honestly? Probably for the best. I didn't sleep much, though, but I'm used to pulling all-nighters. Missing one night of sleep won't kill me. It takes a week or so in a row to do that."

Shinichi laughed softly at the joke. Usually he didn't laugh or smile all too much, but when he was with Kaito, the magician just seemed to draw those kinds of reactions out of him naturally…when he wasn't giving Shinichi a migraine-sized headache, that was.

"Well, let's not put that to the test. I prefer you alive and well and driving everyone around you crazy," Shinichi chuckled.

"Aww. See? I knew you cared." Kaito smirked, poking Shinichi's cheek and reminding the detective of Kaito's lips on that same spot the night before.

Shinichi stiffened as he fought down a blush. "I wouldn't go that far. Ready for breakfast?"

Kaito could tell a deliberate subject change when he saw one. He didn't fight it, though. He simply smiled and took note. "Lead the way, Shin-chan!"

"Don't call me that," Shinichi protested futilely, turning around both to lock up and to hide his fuchsia-stained cheeks from Kaito.

The café really wasn't too far away, so they didn't have much time for chitchat between the manor and the shop. Which was actually too bad because Shinichi found he could easily converse with Kaito when he didn't have to make eye contact. Once he was seated in the booth directly across from the captivating magician, it was hard to concentrate. It was embarrassing for some reason. He felt like he had been placed on national television naked as he squirmed under Kaito's keen gaze. Kaito was studying him, every move, and it was difficult for Shinichi not to stare at Kaito as well. Shinichi settled for peering at Kaito's reflection in the glass of the window that their table was adjacent to. Sometimes to switch it up he'd look down at the reflection in his coffee.

"Something bothering you, Shin-chan? You seem off today," Kaito finally asked, making Shinichi twitch.

"N-No. It's nothing. I just…I'm probably just tired," Shinichi lied.

"What are you thinking about?" Kaito purred. At least it sounded like a purr. Kaito's voice was so soft and smooth and velvety, silky—melted milk chocolate drizzled over rich cheesecake.

Regardless, at that particular moment, Shinichi was wondering what brand of cologne Kaito wore and whether Kaito would prefer a honeymoon in Paris or Hawaii, but he wasn't going to fess up to that. What would Kaito do if Shinichi replied honestly that he was just thinking about how he wanted to know _everything_ about Kaito?

"I was just…I was worried about school," Shinichi fibbed. True, he was concerned about his upcoming return to higher education, but such topics were some of the furthest from being on his mind at the moment.

"School?" Kaito echoed, tipping his head to the side.

Shinichi's heart lurched. _"So cute."_

The detective shook his head to clear his mind. "Yeah. I've been…away for the past two years on a really important case, so I haven't been going to school, so… Next month I'll be starting at Beika University, and I'm a little nervous. That's where you said you go, right? Would you have any tips or suggestions for me just starting out there?"

Kaito nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, not a problem. University really isn't the big deal that other people make it out to be. The trick is really only getting in. You're a genius, Shin-chan, and you'll do just fine. Have you picked out your classes yet? If not, I can give you some general heads ups, but Haku-chan will probably be able to help you out more with the specifics, since you two will be in the same program. You are doing criminology, right?"

"Yeah. And psychology." Shinichi smiled softly, finally able to look at Kaito and have a normal conversation.

"Oh. And that's my department," the magician chuckled. "Well, let me know whenever you've got your schedule and need to go get your books. I'll come with you and show you around campus."

"Thanks," Shinichi chuckled, beaming brightly at his (as he was finally coming to admit to himself) crush. It felt as if he and Kaito were in their own little pocket dimension.

And then the waiter came over to see if they needed anything.

Shinichi was minutely annoyed.

And then the waiter left and Kaito started talking about this movie he was looking forward to seeing, and Shinichi was enthralled once more. Nothing else existed but Kaito.

"What's your favorite book?" Shinichi inquired near the end of the meal, desperate to learn as much as he could before his time with Kaito was up.

Kaito smiled, taking this abrupt subject shift in stride. "In general? I think The Great Gatsby for some reason. I really liked that book. Right now, though, I just read Flowers for Algernon the other week, and I really liked that too. I like books that are kind of melancholy in which we learn about the human condition, what it means to be human, what happiness is."

Shinichi blinked. He'd been expecting Kaito to say the Night Baron series or Lupin or something, but…this was very surprising to find that such a joker had layers like that.

"I bet I can guess what kind of books you like," Kaito chuckled, carrying on without realizing the way in which he was being stared at. "Which is it? A Study in Scarlet?" And then Kaito caught Shinichi's gaze. "Something wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Shinichi blushed, looking out the window (at the window so as to observe Kaito's reflection) with a shrug. "It's nothing. I was just thinking…you're kind of deep, Kaito."

Kaito nodded, gladly taking the compliment.

"And I like The Sign of the Four," Shinichi added.

Kaito nodded again, this time in understanding. "I don't think I'll ever read it. Is there a movie version you could show me?"

Shinichi's ears perked up, and he turned to look at Kaito once more. "You'd watch Sherlock Holmes?"

This time Kaito nodded in acquiescence. "Yes. I'd watch Sherlock Holmes with you so long as you didn't try to make me read it. That's where I draw the line."

"What are you doing on Friday? You could come over to my house, and we could have popcorn and watch movies and…you could maybe spend the night, if you wanted," Shinichi eagerly suggested, squirming in embarrassment and (once again) not actually looking at Kaito as he said it.

The combination of Shinichi's cute behavior and his invitation for Kaito to spend the night nearly caused Kaito to have a seizure. His nose started to bleed profusely, and he felt overheated. He knew full well that he couldn't be trusted to spend the night with Shinichi.

"I don't know if I could spend the night, but I could sure hang out and have a movie marathon with you," Kaito compromised.

"Awesome. You're gonna love it!" Shinichi chattered happily, thrilled at the opportunity to share one of his great passions with someone else. "Can you came over at three thirty?"

"Not a problem." Kaito shrugged. He had a feeling he'd promised Hakuba that he'd clean his portions of the room that day, but chores could always be rescheduled…for next week.

"Do you get hat hair?" slipped past Shinichi's lips, making the poor detective go absolutely fire engine red in the cheeks. He hadn't meant to actually ask that particular burning question.

Kaito blinked and then he laughed. "No. Why do you ask?"

"J-Just curious." Shinichi shrugged and fidgeted some more in the booth seat.

"You're an exceptionally curious individual," Kaito noted. "I suppose it comes with being a detective?"

"Little bit." Shinichi shrugged only his left shoulder. "What about…what's your favorite food?"

"Chocolate." Kaito's answer was immediate. "You?"

"Coffee," Shinichi chuckled, futzing with the wrapper from Kaito's straw. "And beef stew and lemon pie and cheesecake."

"I could just live off of chocolate." Kaito shrugged. "It's the perfect food. You can eat it, you can drink it…it comes in all forms…. But I guess I'm kind of partial to tempura don too."

"I wish I could live off coffee," Shinichi sighed wistfully. "I've been told it has no nutritional value."

"Sure it does," Kaito argued. "Just add some milk and some whipped cream, maybe some caramel sauce and you're all set to go. It's got carbs and fat and protein. Complete meal right there."

Shinichi could only laugh. "Has anyone ever told you that you're dangerously persuasive?"

Kaito shrugged with a satisfied smirk. "One or two people may have alluded to that fact in the past."

"What do you wear to sleep?" another inappropriate question managed to slip past Shinichi's lips in his sleep deprived state.

Kaito answered, completely unfazed before Shinichi could apologize and take it back. "Usually just pajama pants and a T-shirt. What about you?"

"Uh…" Shinichi's brain stalled as an image of Kaito in plaid pajama pants and a _tight_ white T-shirt popped into his head. "A lot of the time I just fall asleep in my clothes. I work a lot of late nights on cases, so…either I come home late and just kind of collapse fully dressed, or I nod off at my desk, still dressed, while working on case files there."

"I used to do that a lot back in high school, fall asleep at my desk," Kaito chuckled at the memories of late nights spent in his father's workshop. "But it's a bad habit, Shin-chan. You should sleep properly in a bed more often." For more than the thousandth time was Kaito grateful for his poker face because at that moment he was wearing a calm, innocent exterior expression while secretly making plans to ensure that Shinichi slept in a bed more often…completely naked.

"I know," Shinichi laughed sheepishly, scratching his cheek. "Kaito, do you have any bad habits?"

Kaito rolled his eyes and whistled. "Do I ever. Haku-chan is always complaining about how messy I am and how I'm always doing and saying things just to be facetious. Truthfully, I may be messy, but I know exactly where everything is and if anything's been moved. And I honestly think that people like being messed with from time to time. Apparently I also snore, but I don't know if that counts as a bad habit."

"Did Hakuba-kun tell you that you snore?" Shinichi asked, feeling a prick of jealousy towards the other detective not for the first time.

"Yeah." Kaito gave a fond roll of his eyes, missing the hint of bitterness in Shinichi's voice. "Why do you ask?"

Shinichi shrugged and dodged the question. "You spend a lot of time with him, don't you?"

Kaito shrugged as well, draining the last of his chocolate milk. "Half out of necessity, half out of choice. You two should spend some time together; I think you'd be friends."

Shinichi muttered noncommittally and then changed the subject. "Do you like animals?"

"I _love_ animals," Kaito gushed. "I've got fifteen doves, a turkey, and three rabbits right now, but I'd love to branch out and get some dogs and cats once I've got a place of my own. I want two cats—a black one with white socks and an orange tabby that looks like a mini tiger—and three dogs—one that's big enough to ride like a horse, one sensible-sized one, and one small enough that I have to worry about the big one eating it. I don't know how the dogs and cats would do with my birds, though. Do you like animals?"

Shinichi chuckled softly and nodded. "Yeah. I think I'd like living with your zoo so long as they didn't get into my case files and tear everything up. What about…" Shinichi gulped, looking away with a blush. "Do you like children?"

"I _love_ children," Kaito assured. "I want at least five—three girls, two boys."

And now Shinichi shifted uncomfortably. "What about Nakamori Aoko?"

This question threw Kaito for a loop. "What? What about her?"

Shinichi gathered his courage and looked Kaito straight in the eye, his own sapphire eyes glossy and almost begging. "Do you still love Nakamori Aoko?"

Kaito blinked, and then it all made sense. "Only as my precious little sister," Kaito assured.

Shinichi nodded, gazing down at his now empty coffee mug. His entire body felt hot. He was embarrassed and ashamed and feeling oh so insecure right now. What the hell? What was happening to him? Why did Kaito have to force his way into Shinichi's life and turn everything sideways overnight? Shinichi wasn't thinking clearly. He was in no position to be in a new relationship. Things with Ran had just crashed and burned not more than a month ago when he'd returned to his real life as Kudo Shinichi. Shinichi was just vulnerable right now. He was all mixed up. He wasn't seriously in love with Kaito. He was just confused…but…why did it feel so real? Why did being with a man that the previous evening he had found absolutely obnoxious make him so happy now? Why was he feeling jealous of Hakuba Saguru and Nakamori Aoko and their ties to Kaito? Why did he want Kaito to return his (most likely mistaken and temporary) affections so much? If it wasn't real, why did it hurt so much?

"Sorry," Shinichi finally muttered. "Sorry for holding you up. We've been done eating for a good fifteen minutes now, but I keep asking all of these stupid questions and keeping you here. I'm sorry. I just…I guess it's just a detective thing," he laughed weakly, trying to sound a little sheepish but mostly just laughing it all off. He failed, though, and only ended up sounding desperate and strained. "I just…I want to know more about you…everything about you. It's really stupid. Sorry. I—"

"—Shinichi," Kaito cut him off. "Look at me," he demanded, taking Shinichi's arms and setting them down, palms up, on the table between them.

Shinichi blinked and watched in some confusion as Kaito stretched his own arms out and set them down on top of Shinichi's. Instead of placing his own palms on top of Shinichi's, Kaito took Shinichi by the wrists so that they could both feel the soft thrum of each other's pulses against their palms.

"Feel that?" Kaito whispered.

Shinichi nodded, somewhat in wonder.

"Now look at me," Kaito commanded again.

Shinichi's eyes met Kaito's, and he watched in amazement as Kaito's pupils dilated as sure as Shinichi's own were doing. He could feel Kaito's pulse speed up. He could hear Kaito breathing faster, all in unison with Shinichi's own breath, his own pulse. All the classic signs of attraction right there in front of him.

"Do you get it now, Meitantei?" Kaito giggled.

Shinichi nodded slowly, praying that he understood. "You…like me too?"

"Yes! I never thought confessing to a detective would be this difficult," Kaito laughed, giving Shinichi's wrist a squeeze before letting go.

All of the sudden Shinichi felt relieved. Kaito really did like him too. He hadn't been kidding and fooling around. Kaito really did like him.

At the same time, Shinichi began to feel uneasy. "Kaito…I don't know that I'm able to be in a relationship right now," he began to explain, grasping at the right words like wisps of smoke. "I…since I was little there's been this girl, Mouri Ran. We…I guess it's kind of like you and Aoko-san, but…I've been in love with her for a long time now, and things just kind of fell apart a month ago after I got back from…my undercover work, so…I don't know if you want me that soon after a breakup. I might still be—"

"—That's okay," Kaito assured. "If you need time, that's okay, Shin-chan. I wouldn't want to force you into anything before you're sure that you're ready. We can just hang out and go on not-dates and be friends until you think you're okay to start something new. I kind of approached you last night with something long-term in mind, so it doesn't really matter to me how long the wait is. I'd rather do this right."

Shinichi looked up at Kaito and just stared. He studied the other young man, just taking in Kuroba Kaito. Finally Shinichi smiled and nodded. "Thank you. I just need some time to get my head back in order."

"No rush." Kaito shrugged. "Until then, we'll meet up at your house to watch movies this Friday, and as for the rest of today, would you mind spending it with me?"

Shinichi's eyes lit up. "Yes! Of course! I mean, no. No, I wouldn't mind. I'd like that."

Kaito chuckled softly at his cute future boyfriend. "Well okay then. Get ready for a day of fun, Kaito-style."

"I don't know whether to be thrilled or apprehensive," Shinichi teased.

As the day went on, Shinichi fell back into more of his normal attitude and lost his shy, insecure cuteness. He still seemed relaxed and at ease with Kaito, and Shinichi was certainly smiling more than he had the previous evening, so Kaito decided that that was good. Kaito was rather enjoying getting to see these different sides of Shinichi.

They ended up taking the train down to Yokohama and hanging around China Town for a while.

Kaito bought a Kapibara-san phone strap with the title character in a panda outfit sitting on top of a dumpling. He said it was a souvenir to commemorate their first not-date and offered to buy Shinichi a Kitty-chan strap.

Shinichi sulkily declined, saying he'd never been much of a Hello Kitty fan. Even though the strap was pretty cute.

With lunch they had a local specialty dessert called annin tofu, or almond jelly, that was really delicious. Kaito ate most of both of their servings while Shinichi ordered café macchiato because the jelly was allegedly too sweet. To Shinichi's chagrin, the milk foam on top of his coffee was in the shape of Kitty-chan.

After China Town they walked around Yamashita Park, gazing out at the harbor and Hikawa Maru, the historic ocean liner first launched in the '30s and now permanently docked and turned into a museum.

Next they checked out the shops at the Red Brick Warehouse and browsed at the nearby mall. They walked around just talking and laughing and enjoying their time together until dusk set in. They headed for Cosmoworld and got on the Ferris wheel there just as the sun slipped below the horizon.

"You're not cold, are you?" Kaito checked as they settled down onto the bench seat, side by side.

"No. I'm fine." Shinichi shrugged, looking out at the city decked out in lights.

"Oh." Kaito sounded a little disappointed. "…Otherwise I was gonna put my arm around you, but…"

Shinichi seemed to consider this for a minute before he responded, "Kaito, suddenly I'm cold. I'm absolutely freezing."

"In that case…" Kaito chuckled, wrapping an arm around his intended.

Their eyes met and got caught on each other. They smiled bashfully and laughed softly.

A thought occurred to Kaito, causing him to bite his lip. "Only…this isn't very platonic, is it? This isn't supposed to be a date. We're supposed to be waiting until you're ready."

Shinichi's smile diminished, but he nodded in agreement. "But…I like this."

"Yeah," Kaito sighed, wanting to lean in for a kiss, especially now that he knew his advance would be welcome and his enthusiasm returned. "But…" He retracted his arm with a sigh.

They both made a point of looking out their respective windows.

"It's really beautiful up here," Shinichi whispered as their car reached the pinnacle of the wheel. "We're so high up. It's been a while since I've been on one of these things for pleasure. Usually whenever I'm dealing with Ferris wheels it's for work because someone's threatened to blow one up."

"That's a happy thought." Kaito gave a short, ironic laugh. "Well, just enjoy it while you can, then, because there'll be no working for you today."

"Let's hope, anyway," Shinichi chuckled nervously. "Whenever I try to take a day off, something bad usually happens."

"Not when you're with me, it doesn't," Kaito declared as if he had a say in it.

Shinichi nodded in agreement, thinking that it would be nice if that were so. He did, however, decide to enjoy this moment with Kaito, secluded and in their own private world, while it lasted because before the ride was over he'd most probably have to disarm a bomb or solve a murder or preform CPR or the Heimlich at the very least.

"Is this anything like the view from a hang-glider?" Shinichi mused out loud.

"A little bit." Kaito shrugged, responding honestly without thinking. He'd let his guard down in his present state of euphoria from being with the man he loved and knowing that Shinichi felt something for him too.

"I think I'd like to try hang-gliding sometime," Shinichi chuckled, surreptitiously letting his head tilt to the side to rest on Kaito's shoulder. "The view must be amazing, and it looks like a ton of fun."

"It's mind-blowing," Kaito boasted. "You'd love it. I could teach you, if you really wanted."

"I'd like that…. Where did you learn how to hang-glide, Kaito?" Shinichi asked out of pure curiosity, still desperate to learn everything he could about Kaito.

"In America, actually. From some of my dad's old friends when I was thirteen. Geez, jumping off of a cliff for the first time was absolutely terrifying, but the second I realized that I wasn't gonna fall, that I was flying…it was one of the best experiences of my life."

"You're an adrenaline junkie, aren't you?" Shinichi chuckled softly. "I always suspected that about you."

"Guilty as charged," Kaito tittered, letting his head rest against Shinichi's. "But you're one too. Don't try to deny it, what with all of the crazy stuff I've seen you do."

"A little," Shinichi admitted. "…Okay, maybe a lot. Actually, I'm probably going to start getting restless soon now that my big case is over and I don't have to hide in fear for my life anymore. Truthfully, lately I've been seriously considering going to a heist. I always got such a buzz off of those. Are you thinking about having one anytime soon?"

"Not really," Kaito replied sleepily, blissfully drowning in the scent of cinnamon from Shinichi's shampoo. "There aren't any good candidates in town right now, but about halfway through the month a big jewel on loan from India is gonna be at the New Beika for an exhibit, and I think this gem could possibly be what I'm looking for, so sometime around then. What brand of shampoo do you use? It smells like cinnamon rolls, and it's making me hungry."

Kaito nuzzled Shinichi's hair. It was taking all of his willpower to keep from jumping the detective. Being so close to Shinichi, having Shinichi trapped there with him, up in the air in Kaito's territory, it was maddening. Lust was consuming him as Shinichi's scent filled Kaito's nostrils. He could feel the heat from Shinichi's body, and it was putting Kaito's normally astute mind in an utter haze.

"I knew it was you," Shinichi whispered, pulling away to look Kaito in the eye.

Kaito blinked, struggling to focus on not Shinichi's glorious body and all of the ways he wanted to touch and taste it. "Sorry. What?"

"I knew you were Kid," Shinichi replied with authority.

Kaito blinked again, panic flushing the teenage hormones from his system. "What? No. No, I…" And then everything that he had let slip out of his mouth came back and hit him upside the head.

Kaito smiled bitterly in defeat, closing his eyes, hanging his head, and holding out his wrists. "Wow. You really played me like a violin there, didn't you? I suppose that's what I get for letting the brain in my head shut down for a bit. Got a pair of handcuffs on you?"

Now it was Shinichi's turn to blink in confusion. He hadn't meant to trick Kaito into revealing anything. He'd just thought that Kaito had decided to trust him when he'd frankly talked about hang-gliding and his future heist plans.

Shinichi smiled softly and set a reassuring hand on Kaito's knee before he gently replied, "I'm actually not too sure yet if I'm into kinky stuff like that, but I don't think we're at a point in our relationship right now where I'd feel comfortable finding out."

Kaito slowly raised his head and stared blankly at Shinichi. He searched the detective's face for any sign of treachery. Finding none, his stare morphed into incredulity. "You mean you're not gonna…?"

"No," Shinichi chuckled.

"Are you sure you don't…?" Kaito frowned in disbelief.

"Yes," Shinichi insisted, reaching out and taking Kaito's hands. "Kaito, I knew who you were ten minutes after meeting you, and I still started liking you anyway. I actually may have kind of liked you before too, but there was always Ran, so… Anyway, this whole Kid thing is about your dad, right?"

Kaito smiled in remorse. "It started out that way. Now it's more about my dad's mission and putting down the guys that killed him. I usually don't bother telling anyone my reasons because I doubt they'd believe me, but…for some reason I don't think you'll have a hard time believing that there are some really dangerous people out there flying under the general radar, but they're powerful, and they're gonna do something really bad with a certain something once they find it, so…I have to find it first and destroy it."

Shinichi nodded solemnly. "Be careful…. You know, if you'd tell me more, I might be able to help you."

Kaito vehemently shook his head. "I don't want you involved."

Shinichi bit his lip, trying to decide if he wanted to press the issue and argue that he really could help. He decided not to interfere at first lest Kaito decide that Shinichi was too much of a liability and cut him loose before they got too far along in their relationship.

"However, are you sure you're not up to playing around with handcuffs?" Kaito chuckled lecherously, lightening the mood.

Shinichi rolled his eyes and lightly smacked his future boyfriend. "I'm positive. Save it for our one-year anniversary or something."

Kaito blinked, looking as if all of the air had gone out of him. "O-one year? Wait. You don't seriously mean one whole year, do you?"

Shinichi tipped his head to the side. "Yeah. I do. I'm old-fashioned."

"Oh." Kaito chewed on his bottom lip. "I'm not."

"I trust that won't be an issue," Shinichi replied innocently before pulling out the big guns: "I mean, if you really love me, that is." He smiled impishly as Kaito laughed weakly, trying not to cry.

Kaito's eye twitched. "Of course I love you, Shin-chan, but…one year is a little…I mean…don't you think?"

"I just met you yesterday," Shinichi responded pointedly. "Weren't you just saying something earlier today about how you had long-term plans for me so it didn't matter how long you had to wait?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"—Or is it that 'long-term' means a few months to you?" Shinichi cut him off mercilessly.

"No, but…you've been chasing me for two years now!" Kaito whined.

"And I just learned your name last night. Obviously our relationship is very slow to progress. Wouldn't you agree?" Now Shinichi was just being facetious, getting Kaito back for his annoying behavior the previous evening. It was really only revenge for that cheesecake bite that Kaito had stolen.

Kaito visibly shrunk, looking like his soul had left his body.

Shinichi chuckled, deciding that he had had enough fun at Kaito's expense. He leaned in and pressed a long, soft kiss to Kaito's cheek. "Though, now that I think about it, you made me fall in love with you in a little under an hour last night, so maybe you'll be able to convince me to become yours sooner rather than later as well."

Kaito stared in wonder at Shinichi as the detective's cheeks blazed in embarrassment. Kaito could tell how hard it was for Shinichi to say things like "fall in love" and "become yours", so he didn't want to cheapen the moment or mess it up with some kind of inappropriate remark.

He smiled and lovingly stroked Shinichi's hair. "Nah," he chuckled. "Like I said, whenever you're ready. You're worth the wait, Shinichi."

Shinichi swallowed hard as he got lost in Kaito's eyes. Suddenly he felt lightheaded. He let his eyes slip closed as he leaned forward.

Kaito smiled and made the decision to kiss Shinichi on the forehead instead.

Shinichi's brow furrowed in confusion as he pulled back and gazed curiously at Kaito.

Kaito just grinned. "Just FYI, to me, 'long-term' means the rest of my life, and I think I should meet your parents or your friends or something at least before I kiss you. I'm kind of a passionate guy, and I really, really like you, so when I kiss you, don't think I'll just stop at first base. I'm very good in love and at baseball, so count on at least a double." Kaito winked just as their car came to a stop and it was time to get out.

Shinichi, face as red as a stewed tomato, nodded docilely and climbed out of the car on shaky legs. His soon-to-be-boyfriend was sizzling hot and silver-tongued. He must have been a host in a former life or maybe it was that he just had a lot of practice from dealing with his fangirls. On somewhat of a tangent, Shinichi made a note to hunt down and eliminate all fangirl rivals.

Kaito took Shinichi by the hand and led the way, chuckling proudly to himself over the state he had put his darling detective in.

"Charmer," Shinichi hissed in embarrassment, and Kaito smiled, squeezing Shinichi's hand happily.

They spent another hour in Yokohama before catching the train home to Tokyo.

Kaito insisted upon holding Shinichi's hand once more as he walked the detective home.

"You really don't have to escort me," Shinichi tried to dissuade his suitor for a third time. Shinichi was just dying of embarrassment and joy all rolled up into one. "I can make it home alright by myself; I've been doing it since middle school."

"And how many times out of ten do you nearly trip over a body when you walk home by yourself?" Kaito snickered, only holding Shinichi's hand tighter.

"…Nine and a half," Shinichi muttered.

"Okay then," Kaito said with finality, as if with that everything were settled. "Besides, I want to spend more time with you."

Shinichi said nothing, but his hold on Kaito's hand tightened a little.

Their pace gradually slowed as they got closer and closer to the Kudo Manor, neither young man wanting the night together to be over just yet, but eventually they did reach their destination.

They stood outside the gate and talked for a little more before reluctantly making their way to the front porch at a lazy pace. Once there on the doorstep they conversed another twenty minutes or so until finally Shinichi opened the door and stepped inside…only to turn around and talk with Kaito for another thirty minutes.

"You know, it's kind of cold out here," Shinichi observed at around midnight. "Would you want to come in for a bit? I could make some…some hot chocolate."

"I'd _love_ to come in," Kaito purred, leaning forward with the doorframe supporting his weight. "But we both know that if I came in, I'd never leave and your one-year plan would go right out the window."

"I wouldn't give in to you that easily," Shinichi snorted, insulted that Kaito thought so little of Shinichi's ability to resist Kaito's charm and powers of persuasion.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I don't think we should tempt each other when we're both running on so little sleep," Kaito hummed, leaning in and giving Shinichi's cheek a peck. "I had a wonderful time with you today, and I can't wait until our movie marathon on Friday."

"Me too," Shinichi admitted even as his cheeks turned Easter egg pink.

"Night." And with a wink and a wave Kaito was headed home.

Shinichi watched him go, and when he turned the corner and out of sight, Shinichi really began to feel the January cold. Funny how he had been so warm up until just a minute ago.

With a sigh he closed the door and locked up for the night. As he slipped off his shoes, one thought filled his mind: He wanted to see Kaito again. It had been less than five minutes and already he was missing that smile, that grin, that smirk, that chuckle, that snicker, that warmth, that touch. Without Kaito by his side, the world seemed dimmer, and it was cold.

Shinichi's heart wasn't skipping anymore, making him feel dizzy and giddy and kind of sick but in a good way all at once. Shinichi found that he could breathe normally now, and his pulse wasn't racing. Shinichi felt how he normally felt, and all of the sudden that wasn't good enough. He was missing the high Kaito gave him just by being around.

What the hell had happened? And how in the world did it all happen so quickly? How'd he end up in love with that marvelous goofball in less than two days' time? Maybe it was love after all. Maybe he'd just been drugged and was now going through withdrawal.

Shinichi sighed as he trudged up the stairs and into his bedroom. He considered just collapsing on the bed as is, he was so tired, but then he remembered Kaito chiding him earlier in the day about not sleeping properly, and so Shinichi decided to take the time to get dressed for bed.

He crawled under the covers and sighed again. He wanted to see Kaito. It was more than just a longing now. It was an ache. How many days until Friday? Two? Would he last that long? Maybe he should text Kaito. No. It'd been ten minutes since they'd parted ways. Kaito was going to think he was some kind of obsessed weirdo…. But he _was_ an obsessed weirdo, and he really, really wanted to talk to Kaito. But Kaito might get freaked out if he found out how clingy Shinichi was. But he was just dying to talk to Kaito. If he couldn't see Kaito, texting was the next best thing, but…

Shinichi was saved from his dilemma as his phone pinged. He had a text message. From Kaito.

"I miss you. :P 3 xoxo 3"

Shinichi broke out into a huge grin and laughed so hard he almost started to cry. He was so happy.

Kaito loved him too.

With a smile Shinichi typed, "I miss you too. xo" and fell asleep with a sappy grin on his face.

…...

Mikau: There. How was it? Enough KaiShin gushy mushiness for you guys? I had a ton of fun writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed reading it. We've got two omakes left after this, so stay tuned! I'll try to get them up as soon as I can, but being a new puppy momma is really draining. Eiko and Noiz take up pretty much all of my free time, so I'll have to work on writing during the puppies' nap time. Until next time, guys! Thanks a bunch!


	4. Ripple Effect

Mikau: Hi everyone! First of all I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter: Meli-chan27, Bunnyz-chan, Assasin8, MeitanteiRose, jayfeather63, farawise, 9angel, twilightserius, lol, and Head Games. Next, I'd like to thank you all for being so patient for updates. For those of you waiting on my other fics, I have chapters started for HP, Roses, and CTM, and they're probably going to come out over the next few weeks in that order. As for this fic, we've got one more omake chapter that should be out next week. I'm still editing, but it's normal chapter length (for this fic) whereas this present omake chapter is a little short. Still, I hope you enjoy it. It was a lot of fun to write!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd have more supernatural elements leak into the DC world more often. I thought that one old village episode with the ghost girl (Mame-chan, was it?) was really neat. I like supernatural elements in my anime and manga though. I think it'd be really cool for Conan to have a run-in with Akako.

…

Omake: Ripple Effect

It was late when Kaito finally got back to the dorm, so he did his best to soundlessly sneak into the room in the dark so as not to wake his roommate (who he had already bugged the hell out of enough for one day). Given Kaito's professional experience with sneaking silently, this was a simple task.

He quietly got dressed for bed and was just about to scale Hakuba's desk to get up to the top bunk when the door opened with its distinctive squeak.

Kaito blinked. And then he grinned like a Cheshire Cat as he tiptoed over to the light switch.

The door shut, and Kaito hit the light with a judgmental purr. "You're late."

Saguru jumped, though he should have been used to Kuroba popping up in all manner of odd places by now. "God, you scared me."

"Yes, and where have _you_ been, young man?" Kaito raised his eyebrows suggestively. "It's past one in the morning."

"Oh, get off it," Saguru sighed with a roll of his eyes. He went over to his dresser and pulled out his pajamas. "Nothing happened. I was with Aoko, and we just…sort of lost track of time."

"Oh yeah?" The accusatory tone didn't leave Kaito's voice. "You totally let her walk all over you and your boundaries, didn't you?"

"No," Saguru snorted. "She pushed pretty hard, though, but we spent time together platonically today. We visited a few shrines and walked around at Yoyogi Koen and did some window shopping and ended up at Tropical Land for a while. And then we went back to her house where we—"

"—I've been sitting up waiting so late worrying about you, and you were over at Aoko's place getting pounded into her mattress, weren't you!" Kaito feigned indignation.

"Absolutely not! We were simply playing board games and card games and watching movies," Saguru scoffed, and then he paused, taking in his surroundings. "And you've just got in yourself only a few minutes ago, you hypocrite!"

"What are you talking about? I've been here for hours, Haku-chan," Kaito insisted, doing a good job of sounding offended.

Saguru raised an eyebrow. "Kuroba, just look at the room. The light was off when I came in, but your bed is still made, as is mine. There's no way you were up in your bunk when I came in. Okay, maybe _you_ could have silently dropped down and snuck over to the light switch, but that bed has obviously not been used. If indeed you had been waiting up, you would have had the light on. Furthermore, your things are all in the places you leave them when you come in after I've already gone to sleep. My conclusion: you came in a few minutes ago under the assumption that I was already asleep, so you set your things down in their usual places and quietly changed in the dark. You were probably about to get into bed just when I walked in."

"Guilty as charged," Kaito snickered in conjunction with an elegant bow. "So how did your not-date with Aoko really go, Haku-chan?"

"Splendid," Saguru sighed, though Kaito couldn't make out if it were a tired sigh or a blissful sigh. "She may just be trying to tempt me into a rebound relationship with her at the moment, but today I got the impression that she was really looking at me, really considering me. From her actions I deduce that she thinks I'm second rate compared to someone else we know but all in all has decided that I'm not too terribly awful. I think she thinks that I'll do."

"Good," Kaito chuckled softly. "Now if only we can get her to actually like you."

"Eventually, I hope." Saguru chuckled as well. "There _is_ hope now at least. And how did your own not-date with Kudo go? You two were out dreadfully late."

"We went to Yokohama after breakfast, and I almost had the best sex of my life on a Ferris wheel," Kaito announced proudly.

Saguru rolled his eyes, slipping into his pajamas. "More like the only sex of your life," he muttered.

Kaito hissed like an angry feline. "_Anyway_, I instead decided to take the pure, innocent love route. Geez, what the hell was I thinking? Actually, I know exactly what I was thinking. It's his stupid eyes. They just draw you in and suck away all of your free will, turning your brain to mush. He's got mind-ninja-ing powers that make you do whatever he wants. I can't say no to him; he's like a puppy."

Saguru politely tried to control his snickering but largely failed.

"And the whole Kid thing is out of the bag," Kaito remarked off-handedly.

Saguru froze. He turned and gazed anxiously at his best friend. "Was this before or after the mind-blowing sex that didn't happen?"

"Before." Kaito nibbled on his lip. "Shinichi seemed okay with it. He seemed to understand why."

"You told him?" Saguru inquired, kind of jealous. "You've never seen fit to share that information with me before."

"I didn't really tell him any more than you know. He just got it. We're really similar in some respects, so he just understood." Kaito shrugged, a soft smile on his face.

Saguru nodded, feeling slightly inferior to the other detective. "I'm happy for you, Kuroba."

"Thanks," Kaito giggled. "I had some really good annin tofu too, and I brought you back a souvenir!" Kaito went over to his things and pulled out one of the straps he had brought back. "Ta-dah! Medama Oyaji! Decked out in Yokohama Baystars apparel!"

Saguru couldn't help but laugh genuinely. "You shouldn't have. Really. Only _you_ would buy me one of those creepy naked babies with an eyeball for a head dressed in fan gear for a sports team I don't like."

"I know. It's perfect, isn't it?" Kaito beamed.

"Yes. Yes it is. I hate it, and I feel like it adequately sums up our friendship," Saguru chuckled, switching out his current strap for the Medama Oyaji one.

"And yet you still put it on your phone." Kaito gave a fond eye roll.

"Yes, and at the same time it could be said that 'And yet I still keep you around'," Saguru teased, going over to turn down his covers.

"Hey now," Kaito whined. "You know you love me."

"I believe the correct term is Stockholm syndrome."

Kaito threw one of the Kit Kats he had brought back at the back of Saguru's head. "Sorry. My hand slipped," Kaito chuckled.

Saguru turned, picked up the Kit Kat, and smiled. "Thank you."

"I remembered how much you liked the almond jelly Kit Kats when we went to Yokohama last year, so I brought some back for you too," Kaito chuckled, getting the rest out of his bag and setting them down on Saguru's desk.

"Thank you, Kuroba. That was really thoughtful of you." Saguru went over to his own bag and fished something out. "Since I didn't go out of town, I don't necessarily have a souvenir, per say, for you, but I did happen to see this strap in one of the shops Aoko dragged me into today, and I thought it was both God-awful and hilarious at the same time, so I brought it home for our mutual amusement."

Saguru pulled out a rather cartoonish white stallion decked out in full Kid regalia.

"Geez. Because 2014's the year of the horse. Man. A white horse dressed up as Kid. Coming from you, that's funny. Too bad they didn't make a strap of _you_ cosplaying instead," Kaito snorted.

"I feel for the poor horse, I really do," Saguru briefly commiserated. "In other news, the café where Aoko and I ate lunch serves a divine-looking chocolate mousse cake slathered in chocolate sauce. I thought I'd take you there for dessert sometime."

Kaito threw his arms around his roommate, squeezing Saguru tight. "I love you, Haku-chan!"

Saguru just laughed. "Careful. Don't let Kudo see you acting like that. The last thing you need is a jealous boyfriend on my account. Also, I don't want to get on Kudo's bad side. We detectives are a bit too familiar with the various ways another human being might be...taken out of the way, so to speak, whenever they become a romantic rival. I don't want a master like him setting his sights on me."

"Duly noted," Kaito tittered, nuzzling his friend's cheek and jaw.

"Off you go. Bedtime, Kuroba," Saguru urged, hobbling over to his bed with Kaito still attached. "I'm sort of utterly spent over here."

"'Kay," Kaito sang, finally letting go and preparing to climb into Saguru's waiting bunk.

"And into your own." Saguru quickly intercepted his would-be bedmate. "Up you go. Climb little monkey."

"Fine," Kaito sighed, reluctantly scaling the bunk and settling down under his own covers. "But I like your bed better."

"Just don't tell your boyfriend that. He'll either kill me himself or set the whole of Division One after me," Saguru grumbled, going back to get the light and then crawling into bed as well.

"He's not my boyfriend yet," Kaito admitted.

"Oh?"

"We're kind of like you and Aoko," Kaito elaborated. "Shin-chan's still suffering from a really big breakup right now. You've met Mouri Ran, right? Well, they've sort of been unofficially dating since kindergarten, so…Shinichi and I are gonna wait until he's in better emotional shape. I kind of get the feeling that that's going to be kind of hard, though, especially since we've got all of this chemistry between us, but…I'm gonna try really hard to just be what he needs me to be right now and not push the romantic issue, 'cause I really do wanna do this right, you know?"

"Yes, I understand exactly," Saguru whispered, reaffirming his resolve to be there only as a friend for Aoko until she was emotionally available to be in a real relationship with him. "We can only hold on and hope to God that it's worth it in the end."

"I hear ya," Kaito sighed. "I have a feeling it will be, though. I know Shinichi is worth waiting for. Don't you think Aoko is too?"

"Absolutely," Saguru replied with certainty and no hesitation. "And I'll be there to help support you in the meantime, Kuroba."

"You can count on me too," Kaito assured. "Feel free to ask me any Aoko-related questions while you're at it."

"So I suppose I should start spending more time with Kudo Shinichi?" Saguru supposed.

"He is your future brother-in-law after all." Kaito shrugged. "Might as well start getting along now."

Saguru hummed in thought. "I could probably do that. There'll be plenty of opportunities to work with him if he continues helping out at HQ, which I suspect will be the case. I really don't have any issue with him so long as he treats you well."

"Aww. That's so sweet of you, Haku-chan!" Kaito cooed.

"Yes, yes," Saguru sighed. "Maybe I really am fond of you after all. Now let's stop the chitchat and get to bed already. If I don't get any sleep tonight, they're going to find your corpse drawn and quartered somewhere."

"You really do love me!" Kaito sang just to be obnoxious.

"I'm serious, Kuroba. I might get carried away and start hacking you into little bits."

"I knew you cared!" Kaito celebrated this newfound revelation.

"Please, Kuroba, I'm tired," Saguru resorted to begging.

"I'm sorry, Haku-chan. I've been really mean to you lately, haven't I?" Kaito quietly reflected. "I promise I'll bake cookies or something to make it up to you."

"Lovely. How about you make it up to me right now by shutting the hell up for Pete's sake. Please."

"Okay," Kaito conscientiously lowered his voice. "Night, night, Haku-chan. I love you."

"Love you too," Saguru finally gave in now that it looked like he'd get some peace.

"I knew it!" Kaito sang triumphantly.

"Oh, for the love of…drawn and quartered, Kuroba. Little, itty, bitty, tiny pieces," Saguru seethed.

"Nah. You'd probably strangle me first," Kaito tittered.

"Right you are. I'm considering doing it right now."

"Go to sleep, Haku-chan," Kaito chuckled softly, closing his own eyes. "Night."

"Sweet dreams, Kuroba." Saguru finally released all of the tension from his body, hoping that that would be the end of it.

Now that it was dark and at last quiet, both exhausted boys fell fast asleep almost as soon as their eyelids slid closed.

…

Mikau: Aaaand scene. Yes, that was just a bunch of nonsense, but I hope it made you smile or chuckle at least. I love Kaito and Hakuba when they're adorkable. Also, on a side note, Medama Oyaji is actually really cute. He's not as creepy as the description makes him sound. Google it. Anyway, thank you so much for reading, guys, and thanks in advance for your reviews. I'll try to have the next chapter up promptly in a week or so. Get ready for more KaiShin cuteness. Take care, guys!


	5. Lapping Waves

Mikau: Hi guys! So good to see you again! I have some news! This will NOT be the last omake. In one of her reviews, I think it was Bunnyz-chan who said something like she wondered about how inflatable flamingos at Saguru's birthday party had anything to do with Kaito stealing Haku-chan's first kiss. And then I decided to actually write it, so that will be one more omake for CUY. In addition to that, GeekyGenius said something about a chapter where Hakuba and Shinichi bond, so I'm contemplating writing an omake for that as well. That one's still up in the air, though. This chapter was actually a request of sorts by maddy, if you're still reading. Maddy wanted me to do a bit of a timeskip to New Year's 2014 going into 2015 to see how the KaiShin relationship had progressed thus far, so that's what you're getting this time. Enjoy! And before I forget, thank you so much to everyone that reviewed last chapter: dedebong2, Bunnyz-chan, Miss Emotion, Assasin8, twilightserius, GeekyGenius, and MeitanteiRose! I'm so grateful for all of your support, guys, and thank you so much for your patience with updates. My free time has been so limited with my puppies this past month that I've gotten next to nothing accomplished, and I really appreciate you all being so understanding.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I'd run out of reasons to kill someone just like I'm running out of clever ideas for disclaimers. ^.~

…

Omake Two: Lapping Waves

"Why am I here again?" Kaito grumbled, stuffing three cheesecake bites into his mouth at the same time.

Saguru gave a half-hearted shrug as he scanned the crowd of police officers anxiously.

"Aoko's over by the punch," Kaito helpfully informed.

"Thank you." Saguru breathed a sigh of relief as he located the elegant Miss Nakamori in a blue cocktail dress that looked rather the same as last year's. He noted with a soft smile that the shoes were different, although still high heels too tall for his liking and her ability to balance in them.

Kaito continued to drone on, knowing that Saguru wasn't paying strict attention to him. "I mean, it's my anniversary for crying out loud! Why am I spending it with _you_ and a bunch of cops at some stupid New Year's party?"

"You consider us family and could think of nowhere else you'd rather be celebrating such a momentous milestone in your relationship than here at the annual Tokyo Metro PD's New Year's Extravaganza?" Saguru suggested with a hint of sarcasm.

Kaito glared rather flatly. "I was supposed to be in Hawaii. Damn Shinichi and his inability to say no to Megure-keibu when he makes those stupid puppy-dog eyes. It's not even cute. It's more disturbing than anything."

"Kudo did say no in a sort of roundabout way the first six times that Megure-keibu asked," Saguru attempted to defend his friend and fellow detective. "It was just he found himself unable to say no the seventh time. And it's not technically your anniversary. You and Kudo started officially dating in April."

Kaito ignored that last part. "But we've been talking about this trip for two months now," he whined.

"And you'll still go. You'll just be leaving tomorrow instead of today," Saguru tried to appease the sullen thief.

"That's still a full twenty-four hours of beach time that I'm missing out on!" Kaito retorted.

"You HATE the ocean," Saguru sighed in exasperation. "Remember? The F-I-S-H?"

Just the mention of those finny creatures sent Kaito into a full-body shudder. "Ew! Don't even spell that word at me! I'm not actually going for the beach. I'm going for the romantic atmosphere. Hawaii will be the perfect location for Shinichi and my first time together. I could be naked right now, and it's all this stupid party's fault!"

Now it was Saguru's turn to shudder. "I really don't need the mental image, thanks."

"You see me naked all the time," Kaito snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Not _you_. Kudo. He's such a sweet, innocent, pure-hearted person when his team isn't losing to mine in soccer. I don't want to think about your corrupting him," Saguru snorted right back.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "It's only natural that two people in love give that love a physical form. I've been patiently respecting Shinichi's feelings and old-fashionedness and hang ups over Mouri-chan for long enough. I think it's time for me and Shinichi to make love."

Saguru followed Aoko's movements with his eyes as he replied, "Kuroba, honestly, your boyfriend's so innocent and conflicted about his feelings that you two only started kissing two months ago. You've yet to have a full-fledged makeout session, and he booked separate rooms at your hotel. Kuroba, you're not sleeping with him anytime soon. Thanks for playing. Try again on Valentine's Day."

Kaito only grumbled under his breath some more. "One can always hope. Way to kill my optimism, Haku-chan. At this rate, it's looking like you're gonna get lucky before I ever do."

"I don't know about that," Saguru sighed, sounding very tired. His gaze dropped down to his folded hands in his lap. "Aoko's still trying to let go of you. I don't know that she has any real interest in me personally as a man right now. Our friendship has made progress in leaps and bounds over the past year, but…if she were to want to sleep with me, it would only be for the sheer physical pleasure of the experience."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Kaito replied, trying to cheer up his friend. "I can tell that she really has started to like you for you, Haku-chan. It's not just her rebounding. She's started to develop genuine feelings for you. You're just too pessimistic to see it."

Saguru chewed on his lip for a moment in thought. "Even if you are correct…I want to wait until after we're married," Saguru mumbled in embarrassment. "I'm a little old-fashioned too."

Kaito blinked. They'd discussed this before back in high school. It had only been theoretical at the time, but Saguru had claimed it was a part of his western upbringing and personal experiences as the product of unplanned teenage pregnancy along with the influence of his religion. Kaito didn't really get it, but he knew it was a big deal to Saguru, so he refrained from making any disparaging comments for now.

"You know I think you're crazy, but you also know that I understand that it's important to you for some reason. Do whatever makes you happy, Haku-chan, but you're the one that's gonna have to try to explain the concept of hell and premarital sex to Aoko, and I'm not gonna help out by creating a puppet show or stick figure drawings or anything." Kaito opened his arms out to the side with his palms up and shrugged.

Saguru burst out laughing. "God, I don't think I'd want your help. Thanks, but no thanks. I think I'll manage on my own."

"Speaking of Aoko, here she comes, and what are you gonna do when she tries to kiss you tonight?" Kaito helpfully changed the subject.

Saguru sighed. "I don't know. Shall I let her find me in the arms of another man out on the balcony? That seemed to work out just fine for you last year, didn't it?"

Kaito stifled a laugh. "Yeah, but you actually want to end up with her eventually. I'd give her a kiss on the cheek and tell her about how valuable and precious she is and all that."

"That could work," Saguru replied, sounding slightly surprised. "Thanks, Kuroba. You actually came up with something helpful for once."

"Hey now," Kaito chuckled, standing up as Aoko came into hearing range. "I'm actually going to go rescue Shinichi. I've punished him enough by leaving him in Megure-keibu's care for a full hour, so he should have learned his lesson by now about not letting work interfere with our us time. You two have a nice rest of the evening. I'll see you back at the dorm if we both strike out tonight."

Saguru rolled his eyes but got to his feet and turned his attention towards Aoko with a smile.

Kaito went off in search of his boyfriend, finding that distinctive cowlick in fifteen seconds flat after a quick scan of the room.

He snuck up from behind on cat-like feet, coming right up to Shinichi's left ear and calling softly, "Excuse me~~3"

Shinichi jumped as expected, making Kaito chuckle in glee before taking his boyfriend by the shoulders and politely excusing them from the gathering of police officers that Shinichi had been a part of.

"I swear I will never cancel plans with you again for something like this," Shinichi promised, eyes pleading for mercy. "So please don't throw me to the sharks like that anymore. I'm not good with social occasions."

"That's a good boy," Kaito chuckled evilly, pressing a possessive kiss to the corner of Shinichi's eye and pulling out a red rose for his beloved. "I forgive you, if you've learned your lesson."

Shinichi smiled softly, accepting the rose. "Definitely. Thank you, Kaito."

Kaito raised an eyebrow suggestively. "I didn't know you were such a masochist. Remind me to punish you more often."

Shinichi's face turned red to match the rose in his hand as he grumbled, "I meant thanks for the rose."

"You're so cute!" Kaito cooed, praising the gods that had seen fit to give him such an adorable boyfriend…when Shinichi wasn't acting all sullen and tsundere, that was. Shinichi could be seven flavors of not-fun whenever he was in a bad mood.

Shinichi glared, bristling like a cat. "Stop it. We're in public."

"You didn't seem to mind that time we went to Himeji," Kaito argued, wrapping his arms around Shinichi and nuzzling every inch of his boyfriend that he could get to.

Shinichi tried to push Kaito away, but Kaito had him in his death-grip. "That's because I don't know anybody in Himeji. Stop it. We're surrounded by cops. You're embarrassing me in front of my coworkers! What am I going to say if someone asks me about it later?"

Kaito paused to lick Shinichi on the cheek like a dog. "Tell them we're madly in love, so we can't keep our hands off of each other. Everyone already knows we're going out."

Shinichi paled before his blush came back with a vengeance. "What?! Who told them?! I thought it was a secret!"

Kaito flat out laughed. "Shin-chan, no one had to tell them. It's kind of obvious."

"If it's obvious, it's only obvious because you're so indiscrete about everything, always touching me in public and saying embarrassing things and bringing me food and clothes when I'm working late and leaving flowers on that little desk they've designated as mine at HQ," Shinichi pouted, still struggling to get free.

"Why are you so bent on keeping me a secret?" Kaito snorted, finally letting go. "I thought you loved me. Are you ashamed of me or something? I'm kind of planning on being a part of your life for the rest of mine, so if you're embarrassed about the whole gay thing, you'd better get over that and soon."

Shinichi crossed his arms and looked away, squirming as Kaito chastised him.

A thought occurred to Kaito: Shinichi had never said that he loved Kaito. It had always been that he had feelings for Kaito or liked Kaito or wanted to have Kaito around or enjoyed being with Kaito or missed Kaito when he was gone, but…Shinichi had never said "love". But all of those things meant "love", right? Shinichi had just never said it. Maybe Shinichi was still unsure?

Come to think of it, all of the progressions in their relationship had been Kaito's doing. Kaito had decided that it was time for them to officially start dating. Sure, Shinichi had said yes when Kaito asked him out, but… And when they'd first kissed, it had been Kaito that had initiated it. Shinichi hadn't complained in the slightest, in fact, Shinichi had been a most eager participant, but… Shinichi had never made the first move.

But Kaito knew that Shinichi loved him. Even though Shinichi never said it in so many words, "love" was there in the way that Shinichi looked at Kaito. "Love" was in his smile, in that teasing tone of fondness, in every roll of Shinichi's eyes and soft chuckle. Kaito knew that Shinichi loved him, but maybe Shinichi was still in the dark about his own feelings.

"Let's go out to the balcony," Kaito suggested, taking Shinichi by the hand and dragging him out there.

Shinichi shivered as the first wave of cold winter air washed over him. He found himself subconsciously inching closer to Kaito, standing side by side at the balcony railing with him so that their shoulders brushed. "What did you want to talk about?"

Kaito shrugged. "I'm sorry for embarrassing you."

Shinichi shook his head. "No. You're right. I really need to get over it. I'm not embarrassed of _you_, Kaito. I'm just worried about…you know, what society thinks and all that."

"It's okay. I understand, Shin-chan…but do get over it." Kaito chuckled as he nuzzled Shinichi's left ear.

"That left ear is getting a lot of attention tonight," Shinichi observed. "I bet the right ear is getting jealous."

"We can fix that," Kaito chuckled evilly, wrapping his arms around Shinichi from behind and beginning to nibble on the right ear.

"Kaito," Shinichi moaned.

Kaito smirked, full of satisfaction at the sound. He loved how sensitive Shinichi's ears were. That was going to make for great fun once they got past the closed-mouth kissing-stage of their relationship. Geez, this was taking too long. Old-fashioned Kaito's foot. They were obviously both crazy in love with each other; why not express that love? Why hold back? Kaito didn't get it, but he reigned it in for Shinichi's sake. Shinichi was so easily embarrassed and, frankly, naïve about relationships.

"Kaito?" Shinichi whispered.

"Hm?" Kaito pulled up and went back to nuzzling on the left side.

"About Hawaii…"

"What about it?" Kaito halted his ministrations to actually look at his boyfriend; Shinichi sounded serious.

Shinichi blushed, looking kind of like he really wished Kaito weren't looking directly at him. "I know why you agreed to go to Hawaii with me despite the fact that it's basically like going into enemy territory for you what with all the…scaly, finny things."

"Because I love you and want to spend time with you and don't really care where so long as we're together because I'd brave any danger and face any fear for you?" Kaito smiled serenely and delivered his line like a character in a soap opera.

Shinichi took a moment to laugh softly at his ridiculously perfect boyfriend before he put on his serious face once more. "Yes, but…I'm familiar with how your mind works, and I know what you think you're going to get out of this trip. Am I wrong?"

Kaito chewed pensively on his lip. "Well, I am a healthy young male in the prime of life, a time when any healthy young male's hormones scream for him to reproduce and propagate the species. So, in short, yeah, naturally I have certain ideas about what could possible transpire between the two of us in a remote, romantic, tropical paradise. So, yes, you're not wrong."

"That's what I thought," Shinichi muttered under his breath.

"So…we're on the same page, right? The way you said it made it not sound like a good thing." Kaito bit his lip in anticipation. He was missing something. He was sure of it.

"Kaito…" Now Shinichi was looking at him with pleading eyes.

Kaito hated that expression. While indescribably cute, that expression meant that Shinichi wanted Kaito to play the detective for once and figure it all out with only a paperclip and some grainy white powder as his clues. Shinichi had yet to figure out that he was one of the only detectives that could solve a murder going on only a paperclip and some grainy white powder.

Instead of agonizing too much over it, Kaito pulled out his secret weapon: "Shinichi, you know you can tell me anything. Just talk to me."

Shinichi tensed and closed his eyes as if waiting to get a shot from a very large needle. "Kaito, I'mnotreadytosleepwithyouyet," tumbled out of his mouth all at once.

Kaito blinked. Damn…. Oh well. Waste of a tropical getaway, if you asked him, but…

Kaito took a deep breath. "Shinichi, that's okay," he tried his best to be comforting and reassuring despite his disappointment. "I think I've said that I'll wait as long as it takes a couple times now over the course of our relationship. I won't go back on my word, Shin-chan. I was completely serious."

Shinichi finally opened his eyes and looked at Kaito in disbelief. "But…I know how much you really want to…"

"Yeah, but I want you to be able to enjoy it too," Kaito sighed with a martyr's smile, running a hand through his hair. "I don't want to sleep with you just because it feels good. I kind of want this to be a culmination of our love, all cheesy-like, you know? A testament to the strength of our love, something like that? There's no point if you're stressed and freaking out about it."

"But you've been waiting so long already," Shinichi argued weakly, slowly starting to calm down.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Shin-chan, did you listen to what I just said? Did you even hear the words that came out of my mouth? Look, I understand where you're coming from—at least I think I do. I get that you were in love with Mouri-chan for a really long time, and I know you're still healing from that."

"That's…not all of it," Shinichi fearfully admitted, shrinking up again.

Kaito wrapped his arms around Shinichi once more and started to nuzzle. "Okay. Explain it to me, then. I'm listening."

After several false starts, Shinichi ended up not saying anything at all.

"Shinichi, I love you," Kaito cooed, pressing a kiss to the back of Shinichi's right ear where the jaw met the neck. "Are you still uncertain about your feelings for me?"

Shinichi froze on the spot, his mind a chaotic whorl of frenzied thoughts.

"It's okay, if you are," Kaito nudged gently. "I won't be mad. Like I said, I'll wait until you've got it all figured out."

"…I think I am in love with you," Shinichi whispered. "I think about you all the time, and even when I get all embarrassed and pretend that the things you do irritate me…I secretly like it because it's you. I've told you before that I like being with you and that I miss you when you're gone, even if it is only for a little while, so…I really do think that I'm in love with you, but…I was in love with Ran too, and look how it ended. I keep thinking that maybe I'm just projecting my feelings for her onto you since I started liking you so soon after everything with her exploded. Kaito, you came into my life and picked me up when I was at my lowest. I was a complete mess back then, so…sometimes I think about it and worry that maybe I only think I'm in love with you because I would have 'fallen' for anyone at that point. It was so sudden, and I'd never liked a _guy_ before, and—"

"—Shinichi?" Kaito called softly, causing the detective to look up at him, eyes wrought with conflict and confusion. Kaito smiled and leaned in to kiss Shinichi on the cheek. "That's okay. Even if it did start out as a rebound from Mouri-chan, your feelings are real right now. There's not a doubt in my mind that you love me. You're not that great of an actor, Shin-chan. You wouldn't be able to fool me. You couldn't fake 'love' the way you do. I know that you love me, so you can just go ahead and relax about that already, okay?"

Shinichi gaped at Kaito for a minute before he nodded slowly in understanding.

"Just take your time with your feelings, okay?" Kaito urged. "I know how much you suck at all of that relationship stuff. Mouri-chan and Sono-chan have already enlightened me, so don't worry about it. I'm okay with the way we are now and the direction our relationship is going. I won't push, so go ahead and take your time. We'll have our scandalous island getaway spent mostly in our hotel room someday. It doesn't have to be now."

"B-But—"

"—No buts," Kaito quickly nipped further protests in the bud. "Okay?"

Shinichi nodded, a serene grin stretching across his face. He blushed cherry blossom pink and smiled at Kaito. "Okay. Thanks, Kaito. You're the best."

"You're better," Kaito chuckled, kissing Shinichi at the corner of his eye again.

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "You can't be better than the best."

"There's always someone out there who's better, no matter how good you are," Kaito reasoned. "Just take the compliment."

"Thank you," Shinichi mumbled, blushing in embarrassment while simultaneously smiling contentedly. "You know, looking back, I'm really glad I came to this stupid party last year. I wasn't gonna come, but then Megure kept asking, and I ran out of creative ways to vaguely decline. I can't imagine how different my life would be now if I'd just sat around moping in my study that night."

"I'm glad you came too," Kaito hummed. "But, in all honesty, I would have tracked you down eventually. I've had it bad for you for a long time now, and I wasn't going to let things end with Edogawa Conan going home to his family. I would have made you mine eventually. You know how persistent I am."

Shinichi couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. I have no doubt that you would have finagled your way into my life sooner or later, but I'm glad that things happened this way. This past year has been incredible. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Would you go so far as to say that this has been the best year of your entire life thus far?" Kaito smirked.

Shinichi blinked. There was a trap in there somewhere. "Yeah, actually."

And then the smirk widened. "I told you so," Kaito tittered. "Remember? Right after I planted one on you last year at midnight and you said that 2014 was going to suck. I told you it was going to be the best year of your life, and you didn't believe me."

Shinichi sighed, shaking his head. "Now that you mention it, I guess you really did tell me so. I admit it. I was wrong."

"That's okay," Kaito chuckled. "'Cause you know what?"

"What?" Shinichi laughed.

"I'm gonna make your 2015 even better," Kaito swore.

"Be careful. I'm going to hold you to that," Shinichi teased.

In the distance their clock tower began to toll midnight and the start of the new year.

They both looked out at the tower and smiled.

"I remember the day I first met you," Shinichi started. "I may have been a little over-zealous in hounding you down with the whole gun thing, but…when I deciphered your code and understood the message…I started to think that you were different…that maybe you weren't so bad after all."

"That was the day I fell in love with you," Kaito quietly commented with a soft smile.

Shinichi's head whipped around, and he stared incredulously at Kaito. Kaito had never told him when he'd fallen for Shinichi before.

"It was still a long time before I realized that I was in love, though," Kaito amended.

"When did you realize it?" Shinichi couldn't help but ask.

Kaito chuckled bitterly.

The clock slowly continued to sound in the background, ringing for the seventh time.

"That…That was when I voluntarily dressed up as your friend and went to face your scary crime syndicate in her stead, nearly getting blown up in the process," Kaito sighed.

Guilt stabbed Shinichi in the stomach like a rusty shiv. "I'd forgotten that I'd forced you to do that. God, Kaito, I'm so sorry! And then I just brushed it off afterwards when you'd told me what happened! Kaito, I—"

"—First of all, no one forces me to do anything. You may have prodded me a little, but if I hadn't wanted to risk my life like that, you wouldn't have been able to make me. I kind of knew what you and your fellow not-child were into. I knew it'd be deadly if I didn't pull it off just right," Kaito stressed. "But I still did it for you, and as I was waiting in that car to make my escape as the timer counted down, I kept asking myself what the hell I thought I was doing, why the hell was I doing it? And the only answer I could come up with was that I loved you and I was an idiot."

That confession hung in the air for a moment as the clock tower rung for the tenth time.

Kaito finally turned to face Shinichi and smiled. "I don't regret it, though. I don't regret any of it."

Shinichi took Kaito by the upper arms, looking him straight in the eye with such a serious expression. "Kaito, even though I'm not ready to sleep with you yet, I still…I…" And there was that look again. That pleading look that begged for Kaito to read between the lines and solve the case himself.

This time Kaito would oblige. He smiled softly. "I know. I love you, Shinichi," he assured.

The clock tower tolled midnight, and Shinichi leap forward, throwing his arms around Kaito and crushing his lips to the magician's.

It took Kaito a minute to respond due to the sheer shock.

Shinichi never initiated the kiss. Not when it was anything more than a peck on the cheek. And Shinichi never kissed like _this_. This was a desperate, passion-filled kiss, begging for Kaito to consume Shinichi.

It was a little unpolished, but not bad for Shinichi's first real attempt at unbridled passion. It was sloppy and wet and hot and clumsy, but Kaito thought it was marvelous. There was just something so fulfilling about mindlessly trying to swallow each other's tonsils.

Kaito sighed happily as the kiss slowly came to an end. "Wow," he giggled. "I'd have plenty of fun in Hawaii if we could just do that again a couple of times between whatever else you had planned."

Shinichi blushed, kicking back into tsundere mode. "I just thought we could walk on the beach, go whale watching, eat lots of good food, and…you know…spend some quality time together away from it all…and hopefully without any crazy murders interrupting us."

"I'm happy so long as I'm with you." Kaito shrugged. "You know that. No f-finny things, and I'm good. We could watch paint dry for all I care."

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "You'd get bored after thirty seconds and start pestering me."

"Yeah, try fifteen. Paint is boring. You're cute."

"Is that all I've got going for me?" Shinichi fished.

"Do you want me to list all of your good qualities?" Kaito snorted. "We'll be out here all night and die of hypothermia. I'll tell you all about how fantastic you are while we're watching paint dry," he promised.

"Happy New Year, Kaito," Shinichi chuckled.

"Happy New Year, Shinichi," Kaito echoed, stealing a quick kiss. "Let's go inside before we freeze…or they run out of cheesecake bites. Chiba's already had like ten."

"How many have you had?" Shinichi wondered aloud as they made their way back into the main room.

"Ten, but that's beside the point," Kaito informed. "They're good, and I won't get any more until next year."

"You have cheesecake all the time," Shinichi argued flatly.

"Yes, but not cut into bite-sized cubes," Kaito elaborated upon how Shinichi was wrong.

"You could cut them into cubes yourself," Shinichi insisted.

"It wouldn't be the same. These are special cheesecake cubes." Kaito nodded sagely.

Shinichi sighed. "Why do I love you again?"

"So you do love me?" Kaito made puppy-dog eyes at his boyfriend.

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "You're silly."

"And you love me," Kaito trilled, beginning to hum and vocalize some half-familiar tune.

"You're an idiot," Shinichi hissed, face going red in embarrassment. Everyone was staring as Kaito hung off of Shinichi in public. At least…Shinichi felt like they were staring…and judging.

"And you love me," Kaito repeated.

"And I love you," Shinichi whispered.

"And I love you too," Kaito sang, so happy that he felt like he could conquer the world if Shinichi asked him to do it.

…

It was two in the morning by the time Saguru got back to the dorm from escorting Aoko home.

"Yo!" Kaito greeted happily from where he lay on Saguru's bunk. "Looks like both of us struck out, hn?"

"Some of us weren't trying to talk our way into our respective love interest's bed," Saguru sighed, going over to his dresser and getting out his pajamas.

"Shin-chan and I made out, and it was _delicious_," Kaito chuckled, kicking his feet back and forth, smiling like a lunatic. "How did things go with Aoko?"

"I kissed her on the cheek at midnight and told her what you said about treasuring her and all that, and then I walked her home. She insisted upon walking, but at least she brought a sensible pair of shoes this year. Once we reached her house, I stepped inside for a minute to get warm and confessed to her properly."

"Seriously?!" Kaito squealed like a thirteen year-old girl. "Oh my God! Haku-chan! What did you say?! What did she say?! Spill! Spill!"

Saguru rolled his eyes with a fond chuckle. "I thought about what you said about her possibly coming to like me for me and everything, and then I told her how I felt about her, how I've felt about her for a long time, and I told her that I wanted to be hers if she'd have me, if she thought she was ready to try to move on and start a real relationship, but I only wanted her to accept my confession if she truly had feelings for me."

"_And_?!" Kaito was on the edge of his seat (figuratively).

Saguru smiled softly, and his face glowed. "She said yes."

"YES!" Kaito sprang from the bed and threw his arms around the shirtless Hakuba. "Oh my God, Haku-chan! I knew it! I knew she was into you! God, I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Saguru chuckled, lightly returning the hug with one arm. "Thank you, Kuroba. Honestly, I wouldn't have had the courage to do it if you hadn't encouraged me. I really do appreciate your support with everything this past year, so…thank you very much."

"Hey, what are friends for," Kaito chuckled, giving his roommate a kiss on the cheek before heading back to his spot on Saguru's bed.

Saguru rolled his eyes and pretended that the kiss hadn't happened. "And then we shared a proper first kiss."

"Oooh! Was there tongue?!" Kaito snickered.

"No," Saguru growled. "No tongue until at least six months to a year depending on how things go. If I let her take too much too quickly, she's never going to be satisfied with waiting until marriage."

Kaito nodded knowingly. "So…Shin-chan finally admitted that he loves me," Kaito informed as Saguru slipped on his pajama pants.

"He did? I bet he blushed and stuttered," Saguru predicted, knowing his friend's tendency to be easily embarrassed about love and such things. "I bet it was endearing."

"The cutest!" Kaito cackled, remembering the precious look on Shinichi's face. "Geez, he's freaking adorable!"

"So how are things looking for your romantic tropical paradise vacation? It sounds like you've made some progress." Saguru slipped his shirt over his head and came to lean against the top bunk and look down at Kaito still on Saguru's bed.

"It sounds like things won't be getting very spicy. I'm thinking it'll be mild at the very most, but…that's okay. We talked about his remaining reservations and worked some things out. I still get to spend time with him. I think it might be better us waiting and stretching out this pure, innocent romance thing we've got going. He seems happy that way, so…" Kaito shrugged, a lop-sided grin crazy-glued to his lips.

Saguru smiled as well. "That actually sounds like a good plan. I think keeping things progressing slowly this way will be good for the both of you…. Now, would you kindly get the hell out of my bed, Kuroba? I've got a date tomorrow…with my _girlfriend_," Saguru entreated with infinite smugness.

"But I'm gonna be gone for a week. You'll miss me," Kaito whined.

"Like a migraine," Saguru added.

"Do you usually become emotionally attached to your migraines?" Kaito smiled innocently.

Saguru sighed. "At least scoot over, and no chitchat," the detective caved.

"Oh, alright," Kaito gave in. "But only because I've got an early flight tomorrow."

"Your plane leaves at eleven," Saguru scoffed, going to hit the light before climbing into bed beside Kaito.

"Early," Kaito reiterated.

"Very well. Good night, Kuroba," Saguru sighed, knowing better than to argue, especially if he planned on getting any sleep at all.

"Night, night, Haku-chan," Kaito whispered, settling in. "I'm really glad that things are working out for you."

"Thank you, Kuroba," Saguru returned with a smile. "I'm glad you and Kudo are getting on so well as well."

"Thanks," Kaito giggled. "Hey, do you think I should—"

"—No. Kuroba, it's bedtime. If it's truly important, you can text me in the morning. Another word and I seriously will strangle you to death," Saguru replied firmly.

"Do you really think you could sleep next to a corpse?" Kaito mused.

"Shall we find out?" Saguru growled.

"Nope. I'm good. Night, night. I love you!" Kaito sang, kissing Saguru on the cheek.

"You know, your boyfriend is really insecure about our relationship," Saguru thought to inform him before it became any more of a problem than it already was.

"Tell him you're my brother from another mother and that I'm not into incest," Kaito sleepily replied.

"And yet you still stare at my butt from time to time," Saguru grumbled.

"You've got a nice butt." Kaito shrugged, shifting beneath the covers. "You'd stare at it too. Now who's being chatty?"

"Right," Saguru chuckled. "Sleep tight, Kuroba."

"Yep. Dream of me."

"Narcissist," Saguru snorted.

"I have a healthy dose of self-esteem." Kaito shifted again, trying to get comfy. He couldn't find his usual spot for some reason. Maybe Hakuba had flipped the mattress or something? "You know you secretly want me," he added for good measure.

"Like the plague," Saguru hissed.

"You secretly have a death wish, don't you?" Kaito teased.

"Shut up. I'm trying to sleep." Saguru continued to struggle against futility.

"So am I. You're the one that hid my spot from me," Kaito accused.

"What?" Saguru really should have been used to Kaito's random outbursts by now, but he honestly had no idea what his best friend was talking about. "I'm pretty sure I did no such thing."

"You flipped the mattress, didn't you?" Kaito snorted indignantly. "After I'd finally worn a Kaito-sized burrow in it and had it all comfortable. You flipped the mattress and hid my spot from me."

Saguru was silent. It's not like he could really deny it. And then a thought occurred to him: "Kuroba, you're supposed to flip the mattress so that you _don't_ wear a hole in the bloody thing."

"That's stupid," Kaito pouted.

"You're stupid," Saguru returned, stooping to juvenility.

"You do realize we're gonna be up all night like this," Kaito pointed out.

"I know," Saguru sighed, resigned to his fate.

Really, he should get a new roommate, but…he'd never get used to someone new, and he wasn't so sure that anyone else could really put up with him either. If he were being completely honest with himself, he knew he'd miss Kaito.

And then, by some act of God, Saguru had paused in thought about the futility of his situation for long enough that Kaito had drifted off to sleep, despite the alleged absence of his "spot". With a slow exhale that was part sigh, part chuckle, Saguru closed his eyes and finally went to sleep.

A few minutes later, after he could hear Saguru breathing slowly and evenly, Kaito opened one eye a crack and smiled. He'd given his roommate enough trouble for one day. Let the poor guy sleep and have sweet dreams of Aoko…and probably a dream or two featuring Kaito as well.

Though, Kaito wasn't too sure if they'd be sweet or just turn into nightmares.

No matter. They were both sure to have an excellent 2015, and it would all start with the coming morning where they'd get to begin their year with the people they loved.

…

Mikau: Aww. Now wasn't that sweet? I think I just gave myself cavities. It's a good thing my uncle's a dentist. Anyway, what did you think? Hopefully you enjoyed it. I'll be back with you next week with the Hakuba's birthday/inflatable flamingos/first kiss omake. Until then! Take care everyone, and thank you for taking the time to read and send in your feedback!


	6. Splash

Mikau: Hello everyone! My continuous apologies for the lack of updates on my other fics. It's really slow going lately in my life. You all can blame my adorable puppy children Eiko and Noiz for that. I only get to write when they nap, but, unfortunately, I have to get other stuff accomplished in that time too like the gym and chores and soon homework. Anyway, this chapter is fun, I think. Bunnyz-chan made a comment to me about what inflatable flamingos had to do with Saguru's first kiss (see chapter two, I think), so this omake chapter was born. I hope you enjoy it! And, before I forget, thank you so much to all of you who keep reviewing and showing your support. Your encouragement and constructive criticism really mean a lot to me: Bunnyz-chan, Miss Emotion, MeitanteiRose, Meli-chan27, Kimmiko T, GeekyGenius, and Assasin8.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I would have a nice four geniuses arc/movie. It's kind of been done a little bit, but I'd really like to have Heiji, Hakuba, Conan/Shinichi, and Kaito/Kid all have to work together. We all know how awesome that'd be.

…

Omake Three: Splash

August twenty-ninth was usually not a good day for Hakuba Saguru. It was a day of unmet expectations, broken promises, and disappointment on all sides save Baaya. No, August twenty-ninth was usually not a good day for Hakuba Saguru, and this year was no exception.

His day had started out with the usual string of morning misfortunes—alarm clock not going off, running out of shampoo mid-shower, toothpaste getting stopped up and then deciding to come out of the tube all at once, picking out the perfect outfit to finally win the heart of Nakamori Aoko only to spill coffee on it. It was a typical start to a stereotypical bad day.

By the time he finally got out the door and helped put a stop to an armed robbery at the bank he normally passed, class was already over, his second "perfect outfit" had holes torn in it from where one robber had slashed at Saguru with his knife, and Saguru had missed his opportunity to ask Aoko to have lunch with him. Thus continued Saguru's less than fantastic day.

Saguru decided to cut his losses and head for the library. He could get a decent cup of tea and a lox bagel sandwich from the cafe on the main floor and then head up to the third to do some research until his second class of the day. Besides, one of the baristas there was quite charming. If he were lucky, the shop wouldn't be very crowded and he could linger and chat with her a while. That always lifted his spirits.

Unfortunately, Saguru was not lucky. Not in the slightest. Minami-san had the day off, and the shop was very crowded indeed. Uncommonly so. By the time Saguru got to the front of the line, they were out of the materials to make lox bagels.

Saguru left the cafe with his mediocre tea, and, upon leaving the establishment, whom should he run right into but his roommate, the thrice damned Kuroba Kaito? In the collision, the scalding tea went everywhere…but mostly all over Hakuba, effectively ruining perfect outfit number two…if, indeed, it had not already been "ruined" by the slash marks acquired during the armed robbery.

"Haku-chan!" Kuroba gasped, conjuring up some juggling scarves and helping to sop up the mess that Saguru's wardrobe had become. "Geez, are you okay?! It didn't burn you, did it?!"

"I'm…fine," Saguru finally decided with a sigh of resignation. "Thank you. I'm fine, Kuroba. I'll just swing by the dorm before class and change clothes, and everything will be…just peachy." He sighed again.

"Speaking of the dorm, you never came home last night," Kaito remarked with a hint of concern in his voice before his face twisted into a suggestive smirk. It was a leer more than anything. "Is there a nice young lady that you need to introduce me to?"

"What?" Saguru frowned in confusion for a moment before he was able to process what Kuroba was implying. "No! Absolutely not! I told you I'd be at the Manor. Remember? Yesterday afternoon? You were sitting at your desk muttering something about flamingos."

"Oh yeah!" Kaito smiled brightly, a hint of mischief in his eyes. "No. I don't remember that conversation."

Saguru gave his best friend—and why were they best friends again? When had that happened?—a wry look that begged the question, "Seriously?" but all he said was, "Right. Wonderful."

"How was the visit? Did you have any meaningful conversations with your father? I bet Baaya was thrilled to see you and delighted in the opportunity to fatten you up and otherwise spoil you."

Saguru smiled softly. "The most meaningful conversation I had with my father comprised: 'Please pass the lemon juice.' 'Certainly.' And _you_ are the one that Baaya tries to fatten up and likes to spoil. _I_ got scolded for not getting enough sleep, obsessing too much, and not bringing you by often enough."

"She clicked her tongue at you and made that 'tut tut' noise, didn't she?" Kaito chuckled knowingly.

"She did," Saguru returned the laugh. "No. You see, my mother was supposed to be arriving yesterday afternoon from England to stay for the weekend, and we were all going to have dinner together last night since I had classes most of today…."

Kaito could hear the "but" even though it remained unsaid. He could read the disappointment in his friend's face, even though Saguru was making a point of trying to conceal it.

"But she had to cancel," Kaito whispered sadly, really feeling for his detective.

Saguru nodded and shrugged with an air of "it couldn't be helped". "She has a big show next week. She's unveiling her fall clothing line, and there was an issue, so she had to stay and sort things out."

Kaito wanted to say that Helen should have come anyway, that her son's birthday was more important than work, that she should just let one of her many assistants do it, that she needed to get her priorities straight. Instead, he nodded as if it were understandable because it would do no good to criticize Helen Griffin in front of her son, and Hakuba was obviously trying not to take the whole matter personally and be depressed over it.

Awesome person, Helen was, but she had never been a hands-on mom, and she'd left her son wondering constantly if she actually cared for him.

"So she's flying in today?" Kaito inquired hopefully.

Saguru shook his head. "Apparently the debacle will take the rest of the day to finish dealing with, and she doesn't see the point in flying out tomorrow only to go back on Sunday." Almost as an afterthought, as if to reassure and comfort himself, Saguru added, "Her work is very important."

"Yeah, but you're important too," Kaito retorted heatedly before he could think to censor himself and his outrage.

Saguru blinked, and then a grateful smile slowly formed on his face. "It's okay, Kuroba. My father got an urgent call halfway through dinner and had to go out of town for the weekend anyway. Obviously my family weekend was not meant to be."

Kaito did a quick mental calculation, shuffling the evening's schedule around in his head. "Then I'll come over for the weekend. You, me, and Baaya will all spend the weekend together. We're your real family anyway. Tonight I'll come over for dinner, and then I wanna take you to this super cool party that one of my friends is having at seven. Then we can do whatever you like Saturday and Sunday. Seriously. You could even make me watch that Sherlock show if you wanted." Kaito made a show of chuckling evilly, as if _he_ had been the one just gifted with ultimate power.

Saguru continued to grin in gratitude. There were no words to express how touched he was at Kaito's offer, how much it meant to him, how happy he was that Kaito considered him to be like a brother as well. Instead he just smirked and replied, "Don't make it out to be such torture. Yes, I forced you to watch the first season, but you genuinely liked BBC's Sherlock."

"Maybe, but I'll never admit to it." Kaito grinned impishly.

Saguru rolled his eyes. "You'll like season two as well. I have a feeling you'll have a certain affinity for Irene Adler. I'll consider forcing you to watch it tomorrow."

"Will there be popcorn? With nuts and chocolate?" Kaito gave Saguru the puppy-dog eyes.

Saguru rolled his own once more for good measure. "Don't be daft. Of course there will be popcorn. Isn't there always?"

"Awesome," Kaito chuckled, pleased with the outcome. "I've got some errands to run after class, but I'll come over at five for dinner."

"Sounds like a plan," Saguru confirmed, feeling a little better about his terrible day now that he'd at least be able to salvage his birthday weekend.

Kuroba probably had something up his sleeve as well. Kaito made a habit of pretending to forget birthdays up until the very last moment when he then produced a magnificent birthday surprise. At least, that was what Aoko-kun had assured Saguru, so Saguru was willing to overlook the fact that Kaito hadn't mentioned the fact that it was his birthday yet. Dinner would probably prove to be novel.

And yet, it really wasn't. Well, not in any especially "celebration of the day of your birth" type way. Dinners with Kaito were always novel for other reasons, but...and Baaya and he had had the cake the previous night when Saguru's parents were supposed to have been there, so...the whole ordeal didn't feel very special at all.

…

"You boys are going to a party? How exciting!" Baaya had trilled over the meal.

"Yeah! It's a pool party at my friend, Sonoko-chan's!" Kaito began to expound merrily.

"Not Suzuki Sonoko?" Hakuba asked warily.

They had met several times, and Saguru found the girl to be a little...she reminded him of a mix of his mother and Kuroba in all of the worst ways. The idea of an arranged marriage had been tossed back and forth between their parents over the years, but recently she had gotten a boyfriend, and her devotion to "Kid-sama" would not allow her to join forces with "the enemy" as she had explained several months ago at the most recent talks of a merger of the Suzuki and Hakuba lines. Other than all of that, Sonoko-san was a lovely girl.

"Yeah, Suzuki Sonoko," Kaito confirmed. "She's got an awesome house. Awesome pool."

"How do you know Suzuki Sonoko?" Saguru raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

Kaito smiled innocently. "Kid heist. Turns out I have some competition for the position of Kid-sama's biggest fan."

"With your ego, vanity, and narcissism, I doubt anyone will ever win out against you for that post," Saguru snorted under his breath.

Kaito pretended not to hear. "And then we met up again in physics class first term. She's actually super cool once you get past all the superficial, shallow stuff on the surface."

"Hn. I wasn't aware that she had any depth of character. I had just assumed that everything about her was shallow," Saguru snickered.

Kaito's brow wrinkled in a way that told Saguru that Kaito did not approve. He frowned as his mouth shaped into a bit of a pout. "Sonoko-chan's really sweet, Haku-chan. She may come across as airheaded at first, but she's got a good sense for business, and she's fiercely loyal to her friends."

A little like someone else Saguru knew.

Saguru smiled softly and nodded. "I apologize. I obviously don't know what I'm talking about; you know her better than I do, and it was unfair of me to speak ill of her without giving her a proper chance."

Kaito gave a short, rather curt nod, but Hakuba's apology seemed to have mollified him. "She's really awesome. You'll see tonight."

…

Saguru honestly didn't feel like going to a party, but Kaito insisted vehemently, even going so far as to pout and whine and use his secret weapon: the puppy-dog eyes, and so Saguru went to Suzuki Sonoko's party obediently, swimming suit in tow.

When they arrived, Saguru was stunned to find his old high school acquaintances, a fair amount of his classmates in the criminology department, and officers of the Tokyo PD that he was friendly with all gathered together in the pool house (which had been decorated in an Alice in Wonderland theme), wearing party hats, and shouting "Surprise!"

Kaito gave a self-satisfied smile, and while Saguru was still busy being stunned, he slipped a party hat on the blonde's head and wrapped his best friend in a boa constrictor-esque hug. "Were you surprised, Haku-chan?"

"Very much so," Saguru chuckled as he was led over to the cake to blow out the candles. "I was expecting you to pull out some great gift over dinner. I never guessed that this party we were going to was for me... Thank you so much, Kuroba."

"Anytime. You know I love you, you obnoxious git." Kaito winked, tussling Saguru's hair around the party hat.

Saguru rolled his eyes and got into position so that they could all sing and have the cake already.

The evening went well in both Kaito and Saguru's opinions. The young detective looked to be having fun chatting with his classmates about recent lectures and the officers about cases. He did talk to a few of his old high school acquaintances, but it was mostly just small talk and pleasantries. Saguru did make a point, however, to engage Miss Suzuki Sonoko in polite conversation, but he ended up spending far more time speaking with Sonoko's best friend, Mouri Ran, with whom he had a bit of a working relationship, having worked on a case or two with the girl's bumbling detective of a father.

Even more than Ran, Saguru spent a great deal of time conversing with Edogawa Conan who had tagged along with his caretaker while aforementioned father was out playing Mahjong and getting blind drunk until the cows came home.

Kaito avoided Edogawa Conan like a dentist appointment. It wouldn't do for them to be acquainted; it'd be bad for business. Also there was the fact that Conan…rather, Kudo Shinichi, had been popping up more and more often in Kaito's dreams lately, and the magician-thief really didn't want to think about those kinds of implications at the moment...even though in his heart of hearts he already knew what it all meant. He'd figured it out a while ago, but he was still trying desperately to stay in denial.

The evening was filled with cake and presents, good conversation, party games, and some good old-fashioned fun in the form of the rowdier of the guests engaging in a water gun battle ending in the participants tackling each other into the pool once they'd run out of ammo.

At ten o'clock, the Mouri duo headed home so that Conan could get to bed at a decent hour, and almost instantly Kaito was back at Saguru's side, hanging off of the Brit's arm.

Saguru raised an eyebrow and shot Kaito a snide look. "I was wondering where you'd gotten to. Didn't want to put the bloodhound onto your scent?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Haku-chan," Kaito purred, patting Saguru's cheek as he smiled like a smug feline.

"Right," Saguru chuckled, still convinced that Kaito knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Do you play croquet?" Kaito deftly changed the subject.

Why did Saguru feel like he had heard that line before? And then he took note of the decor once more. Oh yes.

"Not with flamingos and hedgehogs, I don't. PETA would be all over you," Saguru snorted.

"They're inflatable flamingos!" Kaito waved Saguru's concern away with a cheery grin. "I need a partner. Aoko and Keiko have challenged me to a croquet match."

"And the hedgehogs?" Saguru frowned in suspicion.

Kaito smiled sheepishly. "Don't worry about it."

"You do realize that you saying that makes me worry all the more?" Saguru's scowl was immobile.

"The hedgehogs are inflatable too," Kaito assured. "They're beach balls."

"Very well," Saguru conceded. "But you do realize that I will under no circumstances willingly beat Aoko-kun."

Kaito shrugged. "Yeah, I figured you'd throw the match for your lady love with all your chivalry. I don't actually need your help; I just need a partner."

"Very well." Saguru rolled his eyes and allowed himself to be dragged off to the croquet court.

The game went only slightly better than could be expected with half of the team sabotaging the match. It really just turned into more of a competition between Kaito and Saguru than anything, complete with trash talk, insufferable smirks, maniacal grins, and evil laughter. After a while, Aoko and Keiko just settled in with some popcorn to watch the spectacle.

The croquet match led to other challenges between the duo (having long ago lost sight of their original objectives in favor of their long-standing, perpetual struggle to outdo one another in any way possible). Many inane party games later with a score of Kuroba six, Hakuba seven (but only because Kaito had politely thrown that game of pin the monocle on Kid the Mad Hatter since it was Saguru's birthday), Kaito challenged Saguru to what was supposed to be a nonalcoholic version of beer pong. Only someone had spiked the punch in a typical party fashion.

Saguru noticed right away and glared at Kaito.

"It wasn't me!" the magician insisted.

Saguru rolled his eyes for what was probably the millionth time since he had first laid eyes on Kuroba Kaito that blustery February day. "Buffoon. I know it wasn't you. I'm glaring because you, a minor, are knowingly consuming alcohol. You've had two cups of the stuff already. Surely you must have noticed that the punch was spiked." Saguru scowled in the exact fashion of a high school headmistress—hair in a bun, big glasses, one of those little batons tapping impatiently, arms crossed, and a sour look that said "You have some explaining to do, young man."

Kaito smiled sheepishly and grabbed one of the croquet flamingos, shouting, "Inflatable flamingo fight!" in hopes that, in the chaos, Hakuba would forget about the unlawful consumption of liquor.

Fifteen minutes later, Saguru captured Kaito and dragged him out of the scuffle by the ear, ranting, "You know how I feel about underage drinking, and don't you dare try to evade your punishment with those childish stunts of yours. Must you flaunt your misdemeanors and felonies in my face?"

Kaito thought to try one last ploy before he got his ear talked off until the sun came up: he widened his eyes, letting his mouth fall open silently as he stared over Saguru's shoulder and pointed, gaping in soundless horror.

Saguru turned his head to look but realized what Kaito was doing quickly enough that he was able to reach out and grab Kaito by the collar before the trickster escaped. "Nice try. Better luck next time, but I will say that when we first met, that would have worked. I've come to be familiar with your schemes in the past couple of years we've spent together. Don't insult me with that childish ruse."

Saguru turned back to face Kaito again and was met with a pair of lips—soft and tasting faintly of crystalized sugar, something like rock candy.

In his desperation to escape Saguru's obnoxious fury for the drinking bit, Kaito had decided to make his best friend angry about something else so as to hopefully make the detective forget about the original wrongdoing.

And so, in a flurry of inflatable flamingos (as the war that Kaito had started was still going on in the background), Hakuba Saguru had his first kiss—soft, sweet, and not at all with Nakamori Aoko.

Before Saguru could really process what he was feeling—the brush of a tongue against his own and then scraping over his teeth; teeth nibbling on his bottom lip; lips sucking at his own; the taste of freedom, wind, and magic—Kaito pulled back, leaving Saguru teetering from side to side, swaying like an old, hollow tree that had been just short of uprooted by a violent storm.

Saguru blinked and then licked his lips, staring ahead into space, looking like he was going to cry…or pass out.

"It wasn't that bad," Kaito insisted, beginning to think that this had not been such a good idea after all.

Saguru's hand rose to finger his purloined lips, and he swallowed hard. He seemed to be having some kind of meltdown. has stopped running.

"It wasn't _that_ bad," Kaito whispered as if saying it again would make it any more true.

For Saguru, it was possibly one of the worst things that could have ever happened. His first kiss was gone, and like so many other things, Kuroba Kaito had stolen it from him.

Saguru's eyes focused, dialing in on Kaito, and the look in them made Kaito nervous.

Kaito found himself licking his own lips anxiously and slowly backing away.

"That was my first kiss," Saguru remarked tersely. "My FIRST kiss," Saguru growled like some kind of fierce creature that lurked in the shadows of abandoned insane asylums and ate boogeymen for breakfast.

Kaito was beginning to realize that he had done something very, very wrong. "S-Sorry, Haku-chan. I—"

Before Kaito could get another word out, Saguru had picked him up (aided by the adrenaline resulting from pure rage) and tossed him into the deep end of the pool.

"It's twelve-o-one; my birthday is over. I'm going home," Saguru reported, stalking out of there with as much dignity as he could muster under the circumstances. He thanked Sonoko earnestly for her gracious hospitality and bid farewell quickly to those he passed on the way out, thanking everyone for coming and throwing him such a lovely birthday party.

Meanwhile, Kaito was extracting himself from the pool (all the while getting bopped in the head with inflatable flamingos and one or two hedgehog beach balls) and gathering his things as fast as possible so that he might catch up with Hakuba.

"Don't even talk to me," Saguru snapped as Kaito slid into the taxi next to him.

Kaito was oddly silent, but the look on his face spoke volumes on his behalf. It was saying, "God, Kuroba, why do you have to be such an idiot?"

He was mentally berating himself, calling himself all manner of words that a gentleman did not speak aloud. He was angry and internally taking it all out on himself. He was replaying the incident and pointing out what he should have done differently in the most critical, accusatory way possible.

Above the anger and the self-loathing, though, the thing most evident on Kaito's face was remorse. Saguru could tell that Kaito deeply regretted what he had done, and not just because it had gotten him in trouble. Kaito was upset that he had hurt Saguru.

The multitude of feelings flashing on Kaito's face really tugged at Saguru's heart because that expression that Kaito was wearing was the same one that he wore whenever he'd upset Aoko and wasn't sure how he'd ever make things right again. It was a bleak expression of fear and desperation, the look of someone who was sure they had lost the most important thing in the world to them but was still struggling futilely to get it back, hoping against all hope.

Saguru's heart ached, and he was fighting the tickle in his throat. He was getting choked up because up until that point, he had never realized how much Kuroba cared for him. He had never thought to consider himself important to the strong and independent magician. He'd had no idea that their relationship mattered so much to Kaito, but _that_ look, normally reserved for whom Saguru had thought to be the most important person in Kuroba's life, THAT look, told him just how much he mattered after all.

They road quietly along for a good twenty or so minutes before Kaito finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry that I ruined your birthday, Haku-chan," Kaito mumbled in a deflated tone as the taxi pulled up to the Hakuba Manor.

Saguru sighed and paid the driver, directing a "We'll discuss this at length inside." towards the moping Kaito.

They quietly entered the house and snuck upstairs to Saguru's room in hopes of not disturbing Baaya. Kaito sighed and sank heavily like an anchor into the couch, feeling miserable. Saguru stood with his hands on his hips, frowning down at his best friend and biting his lip.

"Well?" Saguru prompted.

Kaito looked up, a puzzled expression on his face as he tilted his head to the side. "Well what?"

"You obviously have something to say," Saguru pressed. "You've been antsy the entire car ride. Say it already."

Kaito looked back down and mumbled, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you like that. Well, I did mean to make you mad, but…I just wanted to distract you from being mad about the drinking thing, kind of like when I make Aoko mad to distract her. I had no idea that you'd get so upset. I didn't realize that it was such a big deal, I mean…don't westerners kiss all the time? Like, kind of like a bow or a handshake or something?"

Saguru nodded in understanding. "Stand up and come here."

Kaito cautiously did as bid.

Saguru stepped forward, resting his hands on Kaito's shoulders as he leaned in and pressed his cheek to Kaito's, kissing the air just to the side of Kaito's face. Once finished with the demonstration, he stepped back. "THAT is a hello kiss, at least in my family, and I only do it with my female relatives…and very begrudgingly at that."

"Oh." Kaito shifted nervously. "My misunderstanding."

"Indeed." Saguru pressed his lips together in a thin line and considered Kaito for thirty seconds or so before sighing once more for good measure. "But you didn't ruin my birthday, Kuroba."

Kaito's ears pricked. "I didn't?" He blinked in amazement, daring to look up at Saguru.

"No," Saguru assured. "If my birthday was ruined, it was in such a state even before I ever ran into you at the library. I had a terrible morning, and everything went wrong up until the point where you came over for dinner. The party was fantastic, and I had a wonderful time, Kuroba. You didn't ruin my birthday; you salvaged it. And then on top of the party, you volunteered to spend the entire weekend with me in my family's stead. You're an excellent friend, Kuroba, and I am extremely grateful to you, despite being royally ticked off about the kiss at this moment."

"That was really a big deal, wasn't it?" Kaito mumbled sheepishly, tucking himself into the corner of the couch.

All of the air went out of Saguru, and he plopped down on the couch beside his best friend. "Yes, it was," he replied tiredly, his voice tinged with sorrow.

"Sorry," Kaito said it again, hoping it might somehow change things.

Saguru nodded. "I had hoped that I might share my first kiss with…well…my future wife."

Kaito crawled across the sofa and nuzzled the underside of Saguru's jaw like an errant puppy, supplicating for its master's forgiveness. "I'll marry you, Saguru."

Saguru's face went merlot red. He rolled his eyes, but he didn't have the heart to push Kaito away. "Who'd want to marry you?" he snorted lightly, petting Kaito's hair.

"There's a bit of a line, actually." Kaito pulled back slowly with a floppy grin on his face.

"Why would I want to marry such a stud? I'd have to worry constantly about you cheating on me or running off with another woman or, worse yet, about other women trying to steal you or get me out of the way so that they could have you to themselves. You, Kuroba Kaito, are nothing but trouble," Saguru immediately laid out the issues.

Kaito stuck out his bottom lip. "You're so mean, Haku-chan. I'm loyal! I'd only have eyes for you! And I'm super romantic too. I'd give you flowers and foot massages, and I'd make you your favorite foods and I'd clean the house and I'd even dress up in a maid outfit if you wanted me to!"

"_You're_ the one with the weird fetishes." Saguru rolled his eyes. "Leave me out of your fantasies."

"Boooring," Kaito snorted. "You're so mean, Haku-chan. Here I am offering to give up my own amorous ambitions and be your love slave, and all you do is just criticize me. It's not fair," Kaito pouted.

Saguru raised an eyebrow. "What amorous ambitions do you have besides forming a harem? Or were those the ambitions to which you were referring? You've never mentioned having a crush before to me."

Kaito stiffened. _"Yeah. About that…he's kind of three feet tall at the moment, so…"_ Kaito smiled, trying to laugh it off. "You caught me. It's always been my fondest wish to have my own harem, but I'd willingly give it all up for you, Haku-chan."

Saguru wasn't buying it. "What's her name?"

Kaito did his best not to squirm. Poker face. "Seriously, Hakuba, there isn't anyone."

Saguru frowned at Kaito, studying his face, trying to get past the barriers his friend had just set up. "…What's his name?" Saguru ventured.

For just an instant Kaito panicked. All the color drained from his face, he forgot how to breathe, and he went into cardiac arrest. And then his poker face slammed down, and he laughed outright, as if Saguru had just told the funniest joke.

"I'm being totally serious, Haku-chan," Kaito insisted. "There's nobody. I was just being overdramatic. You know what a drama queen I am."

"Quite," Saguru agreed, letting the subject drop.

He'd seen that brief moment of absolute horror before Kaito had hidden behind his protective shields. Saguru was a detective, and he had his answer. He'd noticed that his best friend had rather bi leanings in the past, but Kuroba had never said anything. They'd never had a proper discussion or any kind of heart-to-heart coming out, so Saguru assumed that Kaito assumed that Saguru didn't know. Kuroba was obviously uncomfortable and generally nervous about the whole ordeal.

Saguru decided to let it go for now and make a conscious effort in the coming weeks to fit comments of a nature that was sympathetic to homosexuals into their conversations. Maybe then Kuroba would be more forthcoming with the name of his crush.

Until then, Saguru was going to investigate the hell out of each and every one of Kuroba's male acquaintances, and if he should find the boy that had caught Kuroba's eye—God help that man—he was going to grill him until this mystery boy was charbroiled. Hopefully this guy was found to be worthy of Kuroba. Saguru highly doubted this was likely to be the case, but…should this boy pass the highest level of Hakuba's scrutiny, Saguru might possibly consider letting the guy date Kaito. Perhaps.

"So…are we okay, Haku-chan?" Kaito whispered after Saguru had been silent for a good minute or two.

Saguru blinked, coming out of his deep thoughts. "What? Oh. Yes. Of course. Kuroba, we'll always be okay. Even when I'm so furious that I could murder you, I still…you're still…"

"I love you too," Kaito chuckled triumphantly, filling in the words that Saguru couldn't bring himself to actually voice. "Even when I'm purposely making you so mad that you want to murder me."

Saguru rolled his eyes and then wondered if he was at risk for detaching a retina what with the frequency with which Kaito made him roll his eyes. "Besides, that kiss didn't count as my first one. Kissing family members doesn't count."

Kaito blinked as he sorted through the words. "Family members?" And then a gigantic grin spread wide across his face. "Right. Because I'm your _brother_."

"Precisely." Saguru nodded with a small smile of his own.

But then Kaito launched himself at Saguru, wrapping his arms around the blonde. Kaito nuzzled the Brit enthusiastically and then kissed him full on the lips. "Haku-chan! Does that mean I can kiss you whenever I want now?"

Saguru began to flail desperately, attempting to get Kaito off. "No! Gods, no! Get the hell off of me, vile beast! Back, cretin!"

"Haku-chan, you're so mean!" Kaito wailed, letting crocodile tears roll down his cheeks.

"Only because you're so clingy and needy and whiney," Saguru returned. "I wouldn't be half as cross with you if only you were a reasonable human being."

"But then I'd be boring and you wouldn't like me anyway," Kaito replied levelly.

Saguru blinked, considering Kuroba for a few seconds. Ultimately, he decided that Kaito had a very good point, but he wasn't about to actually admit that out loud. Admitting things like that out loud would only serve to increase Kaito's ego and level of self-importance, and those things were already so big that they didn't allow for very much breathing air in a room when present. If they got any bigger, they'd crush the both of them under their massive weight.

And so Saguru changed the subject: "Right. Time for bed now."

Kaito smirked, knowing that he had won whether Hakuba would acknowledge it or not. He got up, changed into his bed clothes, and then sauntered across the room and into the bed.

Saguru followed suit, almost rolling his eyes at Kuroba's saunter but then thinking better of it. He really didn't want to damage his retinas.

"You intend to sleep in my bed then?" Saguru raised an eyebrow as Kaito bypassed the futon he usually used in favor of Saguru's bed. "I mean, that's fine and everything," Saguru quickly added. "I'll just need to change the sheets. I'm sorry. You usually insist on sleeping on the guest futon, so—"

Kaito cut him off with a chuckle, reaching out and pulling Saguru into the bed beside him. "Shh. Go to sleep, Haku-chan."

Saguru blinked stupidly as Kaito pulled the covers over the both of them and settled in to go to sleep.

They had shared a bed infrequently in the past…mostly when Kaito was allegedly too tired to climb up to the top bunk in their dorm room. That had started in the spring with the beginning of college, but they had shared before that too, the first time being when Kaito had first stayed the night at the Hakuba Manor back in high school. It was the classical deal where the host insisted that the guest have the bed while the guest wouldn't be caught dead kicking a man out of his own bed, and so Kaito and Saguru had both slept in Saguru's bed by way of compromise. That scene had repeated itself a few times more, but—

"—Brothers do stuff like this, right?" Kaito reasoned as if he could just hear the thoughts rattling around inside of Saguru's skull, keeping the detective from going to sleep. "And we're brothers, so it's fine for us to share a bed, right? Go to sleep, Haku-chan."

"Maybe very young brothers," Saguru grumbled under his breath.

"Night, night, Haku-chan." Kaito ignored the comment. "I hope you had a good birthday."

"You did a wonderful job, Kuroba," Saguru assured. "Thank you very much. Good night, Kuroba."

"Good night," Kaito echoed, drifting off to sleep, satisfied with a job well done.

Saguru smiled as he studied his best friend's face after the magician had slipped off to dreamland.

Kuroba really was the best friend anyone could ask for.

Saguru made a mental note to start searching through Kaito's acquaintances for the mystery boy tomorrow. He couldn't let such a dangerous foe go unchecked for any length of time, not with Kaito's heart on the line. Saguru would start his search immediately.

However, as you can guess, Saguru's search turned up little to no results. He did not learn the name of Kaito's crush until New Year's Eve 2013 going into 2014. And even then he didn't know what to think.

…

Mikau: You know, I'm not quite sure if I'm satisfied with this one or not. When I was writing it, I was, but now reading back over it, I'm not. It could just be that I'm not feeling so hot today, though. That usually leads to pessimism and being critical of myself. So I'll let you guys decide. Hopefully you enjoyed it. Next week will be the Hakuba and Shinichi bonding chapter, though there's quite a bit of animosity between the two at first. You'll see. Anyway, thank you so much for sticking it out with me even though I'm moving at a turtle's pace recently. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up the pace, but somehow I doubt that what with my final term of school starting this week and hopefully an internship along with it. Wish me luck guys! Take care, and thank you again!


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